The towns of Ladysmith and Ezakheni in central KwaZulu-Natal were on lockdown on Monday as feuding taxi associations clashed over routes. The Klipriver and Sizwe Taxi Associations in Ladysmith have been embroiled in conflict for several years‚ a feud that has claimed 61 lives since 2014‚ according to the provincial department of transport. After 11 people died in a mass shooting — including five teachers caught in the crossfire — on the N11 in October‚ transport MEC Mxolisi Kaunda suspended the two taxi associations. Gunmen had ambushed the deputy chairperson of the Klipriver Taxi Association as he was travelling in a bakkie on the N11 with four other occupants. The bakkie driver lost control of the vehicle and it collided with a minibus taxi transporting teachers from a local school. Five buses‚ part of a service introduced to fill the void left by the suspended taxi operators‚ were torched at a depot on Sunday night. Burning barricades were also erected on routes around the town o...
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