Bail granted to Brook Street taxi rank shooting accused
There was much shouting and ululating in jubilation in the public gallery of Court 12 in the Durban Magistrate’s Court building on Friday as 11 of the 12 people accused of being responsible for the Brook Street taxi rank shooting were granted bail.
Magistrate Phumlani Bhengu ruled that only Thokozani Sikhakhane would be remanded in custody as he was facing a murder charge in Gauteng, while the other 11 would be released on R10,000 bail each.
Bhengu ordered that they should report to the Durban Central police station every Friday. He also barred all 12 from setting foot in the Brook Street taxi rank and they were ordered not to threaten any government official enforcing taxi regulations.
He also ordered that they could not operate on any taxi route unless they had been granted permission and had obtained the required permits.
The 12 face three charges of murder, two of attempted murder and a charge of public violence following the shoot-out at the Brook Street taxi rank in Durban on September 16 .
The twelve accused are William Kunene, 50, Hezekiah Masiteng, 46, Xolani Mhlongo, 43, Vusi Ngubane, 39, Sibongiseni Khanyile, 28, Lucas Hlenti, 43, Brett Rayner, Thulani Dyanti, Mandla Nkosi, Mhlabunzima Gasa, Mfundo Gcab and and Sikhakhane.
The 12 men who are seeking to be released on bail, were arrested and charged in the wake of the shoot-out that left three people dead.
Zamokuhle Long Distance Taxi Association and the Sonke Long Distance Taxi Association have been in a dispute over the route between Port Shepstone and the Brook Street taxi rank in Durban near the Berea Road station.
The 12 claim they were at the rank as members of the Berea Long Distance Taxi Association and had nothing to do with the Sonke and Zamokuhle associations.
However, the prosecution alleges that although none of the men are officially registered on the government database as being members of any of the three taxi associations, they acted for Sonke, which is muscling in on the taxi routes between Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal south coast. Two security guards were killed in the shoot-out, as was a bystander.