Cape Town – A 48-year-old man travelling on the N2 northbound was reportedly killed by hitchhikers earlier this month.
Reports alleged that Raymond Naguru from Newlands West, who liked picking up hitchhikers, had been warned not to pick up people.
Taxi bosses were suspected to have been involved in the murder, reports said.
According to Tongaat police spokesperson, warrant officer Manisha Maharaj-Marie, Naguru and two colleagues were travelling on the N2 southbound from Ballito in a Toyota Quantum and stopped to give two women a lift. They later stopped again to give two men a lift, The North Coast Courier reported.
“The men apparently said they were going to the airport, but about 50 metres into the drive, one of them seated at the back pulled out a firearm and demanded everybody to get down.
“Two shots were fired, hitting the driver,” the report quoted Maharaj-Marie as saying.
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He was hit in the stomach and thigh before he reportedly fell out of the van which came to a stop while suspects ran into the nearby sugar cane field, said Maharaj-Marie, IOL reported.
Police were investigating a case of murder and attempted murder, the report said.
One of the passengers who survived the ordeal, Mahlakeni Ndyata, 48, said he had to jump out of the moving van to save his life, reported
“I am still in awe about how I survived that shooting. I have feelings of gratitude, confusion and anger,” Ndyata was quoted as saying. .
Naguru’s employer Namesh Govender, 49, described him as a good person adding that: “He was warned many times that he must not pick up passengers.”
He said Naguru wanted to make extra money, and suspected that it was taxi bosses who were responsible for the shooting, the report said.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe