POLITICAL NEWS - Gauteng premier David Makhura says the failure to curb violence between Uber and metered taxi drivers could lead to hired assassins being drawn into the conflict.
Makhura said that, since January, there had been almost 300 attacks in the battle across the Gauteng Province.
Of this number, 204 attacks took place in Tshwane, 86 in Johannesburg and four in Ekurhuleni. So far, 28 arrests have been made and 166 cases are under investigation at various police stations.
“I’m very disturbed,” said Makhura. “Every day, every single case that happens worries me a lot, because we can lose lots of lives. But if we don’t clamp down on this, we will have another form of killings carried out by hired assassins, as we can see happening in KwaZulu-Natal.”
He said the people hired as assassins by taxi people were normally from Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and were the same people who carried out politically inspired murders in KwaZulu-Natal.
Makhura said although the killings in KwaZulu-Natal may be politically motivated, if the metered taxi and Uber drivers violence was not contained in Gauteng, the situation could turn ugly. So, he has called on Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula and other government authorities to help.
