Eleven taxi drivers shot dead after attending funeral in South Africa
Four other people are critically injured after gunmen target a minibus, amid ongoing violence between rival cab groups.
Sunday 22 July 2018 16:02, UK
Eleven taxi drivers have been shot dead after attending a funeral in South Africa.
Four other people were critically injured after gunmen targeted a minibus carrying the group on Saturday evening.
The drivers, who were members of the Gauteng taxi association, had attended the funeral of a colleague and were returning to Johannesburg when they were ambushed.
The attack happened between the towns of Colenso and Weenen in the east of the country, and the victims were from Gauteng province.
Detectives are investigating possible motives for the shooting.
"There were 11 fatalities and four were seriously injured and are in hospital," a police spokesman said.
"There has been a lot of taxi violence in the area but we are still investigating who the perpetrators were."
Minibus taxis are the most popular form of transport in South Africa and violence is common by rival groups vying for dominance on profitable routes.
Ten people died in violence related to rivalries among minibus taxi drivers in Cape Town over one weekend in May, local media reported.