Hitmen are more regulated than the police. These are the words of KwaZulu-Natal violence researcher Mary de Haas after five people were killed in three separate drive-by shootings on Thursday, two in Tongaat on the province’s north coast, and one in Amanzimtoti in the south.
The hits in Tongaat were allegedly related to taxi violence and attempts to “take out” the taxi boss.
According to De Haas, access to illegal firearms is a contributing factor to the increase in hits in KwaZulu-Natal.
He said the majority of the killings were carried out by hired men who, in general, used stolen vehicles and firearms.
“Everything is a crime – if you get away with it you will continue to do it, and the criminals are more organized than our police. The crime intelligence in the country is in shambles. There is no proper management and there are irregular appointments in the police,” he said.
IPSS Medical Rescue, which attended the scene in Tongaat, said two people were pronounced dead while one person was stabilized and transported to a nearby facility.
According to the South African Response Unit’s Operation Tongaat (Rusa), which also attended two scenes in Tongaat, the first incident happened at the Golden Sun supermarket on Gopalall Hurbans Road.
There, responding officers found a white VW Polo stationary at the intersection, riddled with bullet holes.
Two people in the car suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead by paramedics.
“The female passenger was treated for head injuries,” said Deer spokesman Prem Balram.
Balram said he is believed to be a victim of mistaken identity, but this has not been confirmed.
While busy treating the gunshot victim at the first scene, IPSS Medical Rescue received another report of a drive-by shooting about four kilometers away, on the R614.
When paramedics arrived at the scene, they found three injured people in the car.
“One person from the second scene has serious injuries and the other has critical injuries,” IPSS spokeswoman Samantha Meyrick said.
According to Balram, the vehicle was shot at several times using high caliber weapons.
Three occupants were fatally injured. They have high caliber weapons. It was confirmed that he was a security officer.
According to Balram, while attending the scene, a white Mercedes Benz arrived and the driver told officers Rusa that one of the passengers had been shot.
It was confirmed that the taxi boss was the target of the killers. His passenger was a security officer assigned to protect him.
“He was traveling in a white Toyota Corolla when gunmen opened fire on the vehicle and the security guard. The taxi boss then abandoned the vehicle on the R614. The injured man was treated for a cut on his hand,” he said.
In the third shooting incident, a woman and a man were injured in Amanzimtoti when the vehicle they were traveling in was shot at, reportedly by an unknown number of suspects who were traveling in two vehicles at the N2 Athlone Park off-ramp.
The suspects reportedly fled the scene after the shooting. The motive behind the attack remains unknown.
Both victims were rushed to hospital for treatment. The man who was shot is believed to be the owner of a security company.
Police have yet to comment on Thursday’s incident.
On Tuesday, two taxi bosses were shot dead in Berea.
Reports indicate that the two men were sitting in a taxi when two gunmen, armed with rifles and pistols, opened fire on them.
“The motive for the shooting has not been confirmed, but taxi-related violence cannot be ruled out. The suspects reportedly fled the scene in a silver Polo sedan,” said KZN police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda.
This article was first published in The Witness.