EXCLUSIVE: Taxi boss speaks in the wake of fresh attacks over taxi routes

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Durban - A taxi boss’s family is living in fear after more than 15 people have been killed in taxi violence in the KwaSwayimane area outside Pietermaritzburg. Taxi boss Mike Mbheje who has gone into hiding for fear of his life, said yesterday that he was considering quitting the tax industry because hit men were targeting him in a fight over routes. Mbheje spoke exclusively to The Mercury after a relative, a taxi driver, together with a 10-month-old baby and a schoolgirl were gunned down and killed while travelling to Kwa- Swayimane from Durban in one of his taxis on Wednesday night. Police said the taxi was travelling between KwaNyuswa and Cato Ridge on Eddie Hagan Drive near Inchanga when gunmen opened fire on the taxi and riddled it with bullets. Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said three cases of murder and four of attempted murder had been opened at Inchanga police station.

“It’s alleged that at 7.30pm gunmen in a silver passenger vehicle opened fire on the taxi, fatally wounding the driver and two passengers and injuring four passengers. The injured passengers, aged between four-months and 40, were taken to hospital.”

The taxi is one of five owned by Mbheje, operating under the Kwa- Swayimane Taxi Association, on a Durban to KwaSwayimane route.

Mbheje said there was a fight over the right to the route.

In November, two people were killed, including a girl aged 2, and six were injured, including a boy aged 3, in a shooting in Nkanyezini, Cato Ridge.

According to the police, a vehicle with eight Mbheje family members had been travelling in one vehicle and while crossing the bridge, three armed men appeared and fired shots at them, leading to an exchange of gunfire.

“What is happening is hurting me. I can’t even visit or stay at home because I’m not only putting my life in danger but my family’s lives as well. If they can do that to my vehicle with passengers, imagine what they can do to me? That is why I’m hiding in a place only I know,” Mbheje said

“Innocent people are dying. I would rather quit the business than lose my life and my family’s lives. Since the start of these fights years ago, the police have not even made one arrest. I get threats and I report them to the police, but nothing is being done.

“I don’t even know what will happen next,” Mbheje said.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison, Bheki Ntuli, labelled the incident “cruel and brutal” and said the killing of innocent commuters must not go unpunished.

Ntuli said KwaSwayimane and Hammersdale were among areas to which government and the police were paying special attention, in order to build peace and stability.

“A police task team has now taken over the investigation of this case and I’ve no doubt that soon they will make a breakthrough. We’ll do all that is possible to achieve stability in the taxi industry and ensure our communities no longer live in fear,” Ntuli said.

The Mercury