UJ student recovering after taxi rank attack claims four lives 

A first-year University of Johannesburg (UJ) student is recovering from injuries after being hit by a stray bullet during an alleged incident of taxi violence at the Enkomeni taxi rank near the institution’s Doornfontein Campus, Johannesburg. 

According to a police report, gunshots were heard at the taxi rank situated in Jeppe on Thursday.  People were seen lying on the ground while being shots multiple times in their upper bodies.  

Four people died during the incident while three others including a student from UJ, sustained injuries and were taken to hospital. 

UJ spokesperson Herman Esterhuizen told Sunday World that the institution would review and implement measures to ensure the safety of all students, both on and off-campus. 

“The university is aware of the incident at Enkomeni taxi rank earlier this week, and we can confirm that one of our first-year students was among those injured. The student was admitted to hospital for treatment and has since been discharged. We remain in touch with the student and their family and have offered counselling services. 

“Additionally, we are working closely with the student to ensure the necessary support for their recovery, including assistance with missed classes.”  

Chairperson of the Sizwe Taxi Association, Velanto Thwala said he is not privy to any reason as to what led to the incident. 

“As far as I know, my association does not have problems with any other association. I do not know why we find ourselves in a situation like that, there is no one we are fighting with. 

“I have been the chairperson of Sizwe Taxi Association since 2005, and I have not experienced such conflict. We are very concerned about this. When people come to a rank and shoot randomly, it leads us to losing drivers, queue marshals and hawkers, so it is horrific and we apologise to our commuters who had to experience such a thing and the family members of the deceased,” he said. 

The rank has since beefed-up security to ensure that commuters are not caught in crossfires of any kind of violence in the area. 

“We have guys there who are watching the rank until we identify the problem and sort it out. We have already called the station commander of Jeppe Police Station because there is a forum, and we are attending those meetings. I am sure the police are also on high alert,” he said. 

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