Woman may have avoided gang on taxi
2012-07-10 09:08
Cape Town - The Cape Town woman assaulted by a driver after she refused to get into his minibus taxi possibly avoided a dangerous encounter with a gang, the Western Cape transport ministry said on Tuesday.
"[A] member of the public, a young man, read the story in [a newspaper] and contacted the ministry," spokesperson Siphesihle Dube said.
The man was robbed at gunpoint in Mark Street in Parow Valley on June 30 by occupants of a vehicle closely matching the description of the taxi involved in the Philippi woman's assault.
The woman was assaulted at 17:00 on Friday on the corner of Eisleben and Lansdowne roads. She hailed a minibus, but when she saw there were only male passengers, apologised to the driver and declined to enter.
The driver allegedly started shouting at her, got out of his taxi and punched her repeatedly for wasting his time, before driving away.
"The ministry appeals again for members of the public to assist us in bringing these individuals to justice."
Anyone who may have seen either crime, or is aware of a white Toyota Avanza with tinted windows with five men, four black and one coloured, operating as a taxi in Parow or in Philippi, is asked to contact police.
- SAPA