On Sunday a 62-year-old man was arrested for smashing a taxi from Gauteng.
Police spokesperson Phumelelo Dhlamini says other accomplices ran away from the scene and are still wanted by the police.
“It is alleged that Nathaniel Mapikitla (51) was transporting passengers from Lesotho to Gauteng. He arrived at Ficksburg Rosendal R26 crossing and he was stopped by a group of men who attacked and assaulted him. They also robbed him of an undisclosed amount of money and ordered the passengers to get out and broke down three windows of his minibus combi,” he says.
Dhlamini says on the 26 October 2013 three Ficksburg taxi association members were arrested in Ficksburg. “This after they had blocked the road with their taxi minibus combis and stopped a taxi minibus combi from Gauteng that belongs to a taxi association from Gauteng transporting passengers from Lesotho to Gauteng. When the police tried to arrest the drivers of the combis that blocked the road other taxi drivers threw the police with stones,” says Dhlamini.
He says the police managed to disperse the attacking crowd by using rubber bullets and stun grenades. “Matabodi David Fethetsane (51), Sello Ben Lecheko (62) and Ntinini Manele (45) were arrested and detained at Ficksburg police station. The following day they appeared before the Ficksburg magistrate, charged with public violence and were released with five hundred rand bail each,” he says.
Dhlamini says the three men will appear again on 10 December 2013.
This statement was issued by the Ficksburg Police Communication Unit
