WATCH: Taxi association guards open fire at e-hailing car in eThekwini

Staff Reporter

Security guards allegedly opened fire on an e-hailing car in KwaNdengezi, west of Durban, on Wednesday night, after ordering the driver to remove his female passengers.

The driver allegedly lost control and crashed into another vehicle after shots were fired at the car’s tyres, KwaZulu-Natal Transport and Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma said on Thursday.

The incident, captured in a video circulating online, has triggered an investigation by the department’s public regulatory entity and Operation Shanela, working with police and Metro Police.

Duma said the department was alerted to the incident after receiving “distressed” calls from the leadership of the KZN E-Hailing Council.

“They shared a video showing an attack on the e-hailing driver who was transporting female passengers,” Duma said.

“Security guards from a company allegedly hired by KwaNdengezi Taxi Association are seen in the circulating video brandishing guns and ordering the e-hailing driver to drop off female passengers.

“We have been informed that shots were fired at the tyres resulting in the e-hailing driver losing control and his car colliding with another car.”

Duma said ballistic experts should be brought in to examine any cartridges found at the scene.

“[W]e are calling upon the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) to come closer to this matter. Clearly, the gun-wielding security guards must be investigated for the violation of the Private Security Industry Regulation Act,” Duma said.

“From the onset, we wish to condemn, in the strongest terms, the violent attack on the e-hailing driver, the harassment, and the intimidation