News24.com | R250K reward offered for info on killers of Limpopo taxi boss

R250K reward offered for info on killers of Limpopo taxi boss

2019-05-01 13:40
Minibus taxis parked at a taxi rank. (Duncan Alfreds, News24)

Minibus taxis parked at a taxi rank. (Duncan Alfreds, News24)

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Limpopo police have issued another R250 000 reward to anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the suspects in the killing of a taxi owner in Manini village.

So far, the province has issued a combined R1m in separate rewards for information on a series of killings linked to the taxi industry in the Thohoyandou cluster.

"As part of our ongoing investigations of serious cases in the Thohoyandou cluster, the police in Limpopo are once more offering a reward for any valuable information that could lead to the arrest and subsequent conviction of the suspects responsible for the murder of another taxi owner at Manini village outside Thohoyandou," police spokesperson Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said in a statement on issued on Tuesday.

Ngoepe added that Tshishonga Peter Nthabelene, 49, a taxi owner and secretary of the Long Taxi Association in Vhembe, was shot and killed on August 9, 2018, at about 14:30, allegedly by three unknown suspects.

Nthabelene was shot while in the company of his friends at a car wash in Manini village.

"This reward follows three other rewards of up to R250 000 each, which were recently issued for each of the murders that were committed in the same cluster. The amount is calculated at R1m, for any information that can lead to the arrest and subsequent conviction of the suspects responsible for these serious crimes.

"The provincial commissioner in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba, has since established a special task team to track down the killers of these taxi owners and bring them to book. The motive behind this incident is not yet known at this stage, but the ongoing police investigations will tell," he said.

READ: Taxi boss killed in suspected taxi violence shooting

In July last year, another taxi boss, 65-year-old William Thononda, was gunned down by unknown men at his home in Block F, Thohoyandou.

Thononda was parking a vehicle outside his house when a witness heard several gunshots. Soon afterwards, a Toyota Yaris with Gauteng registration plates was allegedly seen driving away from the crime scene at high speed, officials said.

At the time, police said the motive for Thononda's murder was not clear, however, taxi violence was not ruled out.