Government has been called to intervene in the ongoing taxi violence in Olievenhoutbosch, south of Pretoria.
The police have mobilised maximum resources to Olivenhoutbosch in Pretoria after five people were killed on Monday and nine injured, including a policeman, in three separate incidents in what is allegedly a dispute over taxi routes.
Provincial police spokesperson, Mathapelo Peters says the resources were deployed to ensure the violence does not escalate.
The first incident happened around 5am in the morning near the Plaza Taxi Rank where the driver of a taxi patrol vehicle was fatally shot and three passengers injured.
Later in the afternoon at about 7pm at the corner of Ruimte Road and Appiesdoring Street a vehicle with no registration numbers stopped alongside a stationary taxi and three armed men allegedly fired shots at the taxi, killing the three men who were inside.
Peters says a police officer was shot and wounded when shots were fired randomly from an unknown vehicle.
She says the Gauteng Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant-General, Elias Mawela condemned the incidents of violence.
“Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela has called for the immediate mobilisation of maximum resources to ensure that the perpetrators of these violent acts are apprehended – and more importantly, that the violence does not escalate further. As the police, we are duty-bound to ensure the safety of commuters who rely on taxis as a means of transport, especially during this festive season period where people will be travelling long and short distances to different destinations. The Provincial Commissioner said that in assuring the public that police will work around the clock to ensure that the perpetrators of the violence are found and arrested. Cases of murder and attempted murder will be investigated.”