Four killed, child among two injured in shooting at Bellville taxi rank in Cape Town

Four men were shot dead and two other people — a man and a 7-year-old child — were wounded when gunmen opened fire at the Bellville Taxi Rank in Cape Town on Saturday evening, 7 November. Police are hunting four suspects and no arrests have been made.

Four gunmen in two vehicles opened fire, police say

Lieutenant Colonel Frederick van Wyk of the Western Cape Taxi Violence Unit said the victims were at the long-distance side of the taxi rank at about 21:00 when four gunmen travelling in two vehicles pulled up and started shooting. Four men died at the scene, while another man and a seven-year-old child were taken to hospital. Local media reported the child survived with serious wounds.

Bellville police have registered murder and attempted murder cases, and the Provincial Taxi Violence Unit is leading the investigation. A firearm linked to a taxi driver was confiscated at the scene, though police have not explained its connection to the attack. Van Wyk said no motive has been confirmed and police have not established whether the shooting is linked to tensions between rival taxi associations.

Shooting follows a ceasefire deal; fresh talks set for Tuesday

The shooting came days after the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (CATA) and the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (CODETA) agreed a seven-day ceasefire on 2 November. Two days earlier, on Thursday 6 November, a 44-year-old taxi owner was shot and wounded at the Nyanga taxi rank, raising fears the truce had already broken down. The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in the Western Cape said about 18 people had been killed in the violence before the peace deal, a figure that has not been independently verified.

The two associations and the government are due to hold further negotiations on Tuesday, 10 November. Police have appealed for information to help trace the gunmen.

(Photo above: file photo of the Bellville Taxi Rank; image source: Wikimedia Commons.)