Zuma's nephew held in taxi-war shooting

20 September 2015 - 02:02 By BONGANI MTHETHWA

Police are bracing for more violence following a deadly gunfight at the disputed Brook Street taxi rank in Durban and the ambush of a loaded minibus on a freeway. "We monitor the ranks, but the routes are proving much more difficult because you cannot follow every taxi which leaves the rank. The fight is moving from the rank to the roads," said a government official, adding that the police were monitoring routes used by rival associations.The Mafia-style dawn shooting in Brook Street on Wednesday, which left three people dead and three injured, has been linked to the continuing feud over lucrative routes between the Durban-based Sonke Long Distance Association and the Port Shepstone-based Zamokuhle Long Distance Taxi Association.The lethal standoff involved members and security guards linked to both associations.Twelve people - including President Jacob Zuma's nephew, Mfundo Gcaba, who is accused of being at the heart of the taxi feud - were arrested.Advocate Jimmy Howse, who is representing Gcaba and 10 others, claimed Gcaba was not armed when the shooting broke out on Wednesday although he was at the scene.One suspect, who was injured during the shooting, is in hospital under police guard.A formal bail application for the other 11 will be heard on Wednesday.They have been charged with three counts of murder, one of attempted murder and a count of public violence.story_article_right1To date, six people have been killed since the taxi war broke out about two months ago.Also at the heart of the routes war between Sonke and Zamokuhle is the use of the contested Brook Street taxi rank. The High Court in Durban ruled in favour of Zamokuhle for the continued use of the rank.But Sonke, which is challenging the court's decision, has argued that the allocation was "questionable" as its rival's principal place of business is in Port Shepstone, not Durban.Two months ago, the Sunday Times reported about the simmering taxi war between the two associations that had sparked fears of violence and bloodshed, as witnessed this week.Gcaba family spokesman Vuyo Mkhize said yesterday Gcaba was at the scene of the shooting in his capacity as a member of another association and that he had cut ties with Sonke."When Mfundo [Gcaba] spoke on behalf of Sonke, he was doing so as a hired consultant, and Sonke realised there were complications. His services were terminated," he said.This week the ANC in the province called for a "frank" dialogue to end "bloody tensions" between the two taxi associations - just as another fully laden taxi from Port Shepstone was sprayed with bullets on the M4 freeway south of Durban on Friday morning.The driver was injured and a passenger was grazed by a bullet...

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