Taxi boss’s son on bail after allegedly firing at ‘hitmen’ who gunned down his father

The son of a taxi boss faces a criminal charge after allegedly gunning down two hitmen sent to kill his father in Bellville, Cape Town.

The crime scene was filmed by commuters returning home from work shortly after the shooting on February 15. Footage showed three people lying on the pavements outside the regional office of the department of water & sanitation.

On the other side of the road, Shafiq Gordon, a Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) boss and Bellville taxi rank manager, was bleeding to death in his Toyota Hilux after being shot at close range.

The other two bodies were men allegedly sent to kill him in the latest murder linked to Cape Town’s taxi war.

Another man was filmed lying on the side of the road and receiving medical attention after he was reportedly severely beaten by taxi drivers who ran from the nearby rank to the scene of the shooting.

CCTV footage obtained by TimesLIVE showed Gordon’s son, Yusri, chasing the alleged gunmen and firing at them after his father was murdered.

The footage shows Yusri picking up the firearms of the two individuals after he shot them.

Yusri appeared in the Bellville magistrate’s court on Thursday after he was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and one count of illegal possession of a firearm.

However, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decided to drop the murder charges.

Yusri’s lawyer, Bruce Hendricks, said the illegal possession of a firearm charge emanated from his client picking up one of the alleged hitmen’s guns.

Hendricks said the firearm was confiscated by police for ballistics testing.

He said Yusri had been to a locksmith and was walking back to his car when he witnessed the assassins shooting at his father.

Yusri was released on R2,000 bail on Thursday and the case was postponed until June 2 for the ballistics report.

Bellville taxi rank has been the location of most of Cape Town’s taxi violence over the past few years.

The violence is fuelled by a cut-throat contest between Cata and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta) over commuter routes and space at ranks.

Codeta members park their taxis in Belrail Road instead of inside the rank, which is controlled by Cata.

Commuters are carrying much of the burden of the rivalry because the associations are operating longer routes.

A city traffic law enforcement source said the Paarl/Mbekweni to Bellville route was an example of how the tension between the associations has led to a more expensive and longer commute.

Instead of transporting commuters directly to the rank on a one-stop trip via the N1, Codeta operates between Paarl and the R300 interchange with the R102 in Kuils River. From there, commuters have to pay an extra R10 for a Cata taxi to take them the remaining 4km to Bellville.

TimesLIVE