LWANDLE – A 42-year-old man, believed to be a police officer, was fatally shot in Asanda Village on Thursday morning (4 September).
The incident is apparently linked to escalating taxi violence in the Helderberg.
Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm Pojie, a provincial police spokesperson, confirmed the incident occurred in Mgidlana Street at 09:45. “It is alleged the victim was driving down the street in his [white] Kia Picanto when an unknown gunman opened fire on him, fatally wounding the victim in his upper body,” Pojie said.
“The gunshot wound caused the deceased to lose control [of the vehicle], which crashed to a halt when it hit the fence of a residence.”
Pojie did not confirm that the deceased was a police officer, but a reliable source told DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette that the man was previously stationed at Makhaza Police Station in Khayelitsha.
No-one has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting.
The bloodshed comes little more than a week after five people were killed and nine injured in separate shooting incidents related to taxi violence, which stems from a route dispute between rival taxi associations Cata and Codeta, in the Cape.
The latest victim brings the tally of fatalities to six, including two taxi drivers from the Helderberg, Macassar resident Hilton Williams (56) and Lwandle resident Mandla Sitshoni (53), who were fatally gunned down at a taxi pick-up point in Macassar Heights on the morning of Tuesday 26 August.
and two others wounded in a taxi-conflict related shooting incident.
Two gunmen opened fire on the pair at the pick-up point on the corner of Oliver Tambo Avenue and Mandela Drive around 06:15. Two bystanders, including a woman, were hospitalised with gunshot wounds.
In a separate incident in Strand, a 34-year-old scholar transport driver was wounded in a shooting while driving along Onverwacht Road around 08:10 the same day. The driver was taken to hospital for medical treatment.
The two shootings in different corners of the basin followed fatal incidents in Philippi East and Khayelitsha on Monday 25 August, which claimed the lives of three and injured six men.
The deadly feud between Cata and Codeta are over lucrative routes connecting Somerset West, Lwandle, Mfuleni and Khayelitsha. Last week’s incidents prompted swift action by authorities, including temporary closure of the Somerset West Public Transport Interchange.
On Thursday 28 August, the Western Cape Mobility Department turned to the courts, with the Western Cape High Court granting the department an urgent interdict that prohibits members of the two taxi associations and its affiliates from interfering with transport services at the Somerset West taxi rank, Somerset West Mall and on four key routes: Khayelitsha to Somerset West; Lwandle to Khayelitsha; Mfuleni to Somerset West; and Nomzamo to Mfuleni. The court order will remain in place until Thursday 9 October.
Earlier this week, the Mobility Department urged the taxi associations to prioritise commuters and the industry’s collective interests by resuming negotiations.
- Pojie urged anyone with information the recent incident to call Captain Lukhanyo Magadla of the Provincial Detectives Serious and Violent Crime Unit on 082 411 3245. Alternatively, contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or via the MySAPS mobile application to provide information anonymously.
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