Parliament: Taxi violence at crisis levels

A group of unknown gunmen opened fire on a minibus taxi from Gauteng's Ivory Park Taxi Association.

The taxi operators were transported back to Gauteng, after attending the funeral of a colleague at Ematimatolo on Saturday night.

The minibus was travelling on the R74 road between Colenso and Weenen when it was ambushed.

Four people are believed to be critically wounded and two others escaped unharmed.   

The committee's chair, Francois Beukman, says a strategy on taxi safety in the country needs to be developed as many people are affected by taxi violence.

"Multi-sectoral intervention strategies must be implemented to deal with the scourge." 

Beukman has also called on strict illegal gun control, adding it’s the committee’s firm belief that unlicensed firearms are being used in violent crimes in the country.

"These firearms must be removed from our streets to deal effectively with crime."

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Police commissioner General Khehla Sitole has activated a 72-hour action plan to trace and apprehend those responsible for these killings.