APA-Cape Town (South Africa) South African police have said a third person has died in Cape Town’s increasingly violet taxi strike, as an unnamed person fell during clashes outside a supermarket chain between looters and security personnel from the shop on Sunday.
The police said the strike, which began last week, saw security personnel and looters outside the shop in Mfuleni township attack a truck delivering alcohol being stopped, raided and then set alight.
Shots were fired after the looters threw stones at the security guards, the police said.
An unnamed man, who was not a security guard, was pronounced dead at the scene, while another woman was injured in the clash, police added.
Western Cape police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie confirmed that a murder investigation has been opened in the incident.
“Dockets for murder, attempted murder and public violence have been opened for investigation after preliminary reports indicate that members of the community looted a delivery truck and pelted security forces with stones,” Pojie said.
So far the two other people who died – an unnamed man and a 32-year-old policeman named Zanikhaya Kwinana who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Nyanga township on Friday.
Tensions broke out last Thursday when several taxis were impounded by law enforcement officials, leading to violent clashes with taxi drivers.
Since then, several buses, trucks and private cars have been stoned and torched by rioters.
NM/jn/APA