Durban – Almost a month after gunmen opened fire on the occupants of a taxi at the Port Shepstone taxi rank, killing four and injuring several others, a suspect linked to the mass shooting was arrested.
KwaZulu-Natal provincial spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the suspect, who was linked to a mass shooting in Port Shepstone last month, was arrested along with another suspect.
“The Provincial Taxi Violence Task Team members, working together with the Tactical Response Team (TRT) operationalised intelligence about two suspects who were alleged to have been on a mission to execute a planned assassination,” he said.
Netshiunda said the two suspects were cornered and the vehicle they were travelling in was intercepted on the N2 southbound near Ballito on Tuesday afternoon.
“One of the suspects was positively linked to a mass shooting in Port Shepstone on July 25 where four people were fatally wounded and five left injured when a taxi they were seated in was shot at,” he said.
He said when police searched the vehicle, the suspects were found to be in possession of two firearms, a rifle and a pistol, as well as ammunition.
“The suspects, aged 33 and 37, will appear in the KwaDukuza Magistrate’s Court on Thursday,” said Netshiunda.
“The Mercury” reported in April that crime experts had identified organised hits, the proliferation of illegal guns and challenges arising due to poverty and unemployment as being among the possible reasons for the increase in mass murders in KwaZulu-Natal.