The death of a Pretoria taxi driver Jabu Baloyi is now back under scrutiny. Baloyi died after he was shot, allegedly by a foreign national three weeks ago.
The Independent Police Investigating Directorate (Ipid) now says it has received sensitive information around the death of the taxi driver. This information apparently raises suspicion on how Baloyi really died.
The police watchdog has been roped to get to the bottom of who really killed Baloyi. Ipid says there is reason to believe the details around Baloyi’s death may have been misrepresented.
“Ipid received sensitive information that warrants a holistic probe, we can’t say from who. We visited the family and we will deal with this matter speedily as the peace in the country rest on it,” says Ipid spokesperson Sontaga Seisa.
Baloyi died allegedly while trying to stop a foreign national from selling drugs at the busy Bloed Street taxi rank in the Pretoria CBD.
A foreign national was pinned as alleged the killer, however Ipid says there might be more to Baloyi’s death. “Ipid is continuing with its investigations on the taxi driver murder that took place on the 26 August 2019 in the Pretoria CBD. As you know there are allegations that there are some elements of corruption and that is the reason why the Ipid is also investigating the matter,” says Seisa.
Baloyi’s death was followed by chaotic scenes that spread around Gauteng. The mayhem included attacks on migrants and their businesses. It is alleged the instigators of the anarchy were people in the taxi industry – to retaliate Baloyi’s murder.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has welcomed Ipid’s probe and we have called for Baloyi’s killer to be brought to book. “The law must take its course. We also call for calm and we want to say people must not commit these crimes in our name,” says Santaco Tshwane spokesperson Mc Donald Makata.
Meanwhile Santaco also plans to embark on a regional anti-violence awareness campaign next week Tuesday. The peaceful drive through Sunnyside in the Capital City under the hash tag “Not-in-Our-Name”.
Makata says they condemn the violence and want to warn everyone to never sell drugs in their business space. They also want to show the nation that the do not support the violence and want to stop it. Click below for more on the story:
