KZN taxi violence: Enforcer sentenced to 12 years for attempted murder
A man who worked as as security guard for a taxi association has been sentenced to 12 years for attempted murder.
Image: Independent Newspapers Archives
The Mtubatuba Regional Court has sentenced a man to 12 years behind bars for attempting to murder a meter taxi driver in what police described as a taxi violence-related incident.
The sentence was handed down to 32-year-old Sahluko Patrick Mthembu on July 31 this year, nearly six years after the shooting occurred in the KwaMduku area of Hluhluwe in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
According to police, the incident took place on the morning of 5 December 2019, when two educators hired a meter taxi to take them to their school.
Mthembu, employed as a security guard by a taxi association, allegedly followed the meter taxi and opened fire on the driver without warning.
“The driver managed to escape without any injuries,” the KwaZulu-Natal SAPS spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said.
For years, the case remained unsolved until it was transferred to the Provincial Taxi Violence Unit, which arrested Mthembu within a month of taking over the investigation.
“Thorough police investigations revealed that Mthembu shot at the meter taxi driver because he accused him of transporting minibus taxi clients without authority,” said Netshiunda.
Police said Mthembu was linked to the shooting through investigative work by the specialist unit and was arrested in connection with the attempted murder.
Throughout the court proceedings, police successfully opposed multiple bail applications made by Mthembu, keeping him in custody until sentencing.
The conviction comes amid ongoing tensions between meter taxi operators and minibus taxi associations in the province, where disputes over routes and clients have occasionally escalated into violence.
Mthembu’s sentencing was welcomed by police as a breakthrough in a long-running investigation linked to the broader problem of taxi-related violence.
The SAPS Provincial Taxi Violence Unit continues to investigate similar cases and monitor hotspots for retaliatory attacks or criminal acts related to taxi operations.
Police urged the public to report any acts of intimidation or violence linked to the taxi industry.