Rogue elements in the taxi industry are planning to assassinate KwaZulu-Natal's community liaison and safety MEC Bheki Cele, according to police sources.
Information from police officers has also revealed a brazen plot to ambush members of Durban's Organised Crime Unit.
Police spokesperson Director Phindile Radebe on Wednesday confirmed the threat to Cele.
"Yes, we are aware of the threat and yes, we are investigating," she said.
She would neither confirm nor deny that the source of the threats came from the taxi industry.
Police sources, however, said they were aware that Cele, as well as members of Durban's Organised Crime Unit, were being targeted.
Cele's spokesperson, Nonkululeko Mbatha, referred all queries to Radebe.
Police sources said the initial plan had been to attack the unit's officers at their Cato Manor office.
But it had been considered a risk because the terrain left the attackers vulnerable.
The plot evolved to one where hitmen would "create a crime scene" by shooting an opponent in the taxi industry, knowing that the Organised Crime Unit would be called to the scene, and then ambushing them.
The plot was to eliminate law enforcement officials who could not be bribed and who were seen as cracking down on the violent industry, sources said.
In 2008, two senior police officers were murdered by taxi hitmen in KZN.
One of the province's top cops, Superintendent Zethembe Chonco, was killed in August 2008 by hitmen involved in numerous taxi-related murders.
Four men with AK-47s ambushed and fired at the last car of a three-vehicle police convoy taking suspects to KwaDukuza Magistrate's Court from Kranskop.
Three attackers escaped and the fourth was killed by police when they returned fire.
Chonco had been a station commissioner at Kranskop and also served as head of several taxi violence task teams in KwaZulu-Natal.
The convoy had been transporting men facing charges related to the killings in the KwaDukuza/KwaMaphumulo taxi feud.
The hitmen had let two of the cars in the police convoy pass and only opened fire on the third, driven by Chonco.
This fuelled speculation that it was a revenge killing for Chonco's role in cracking down on taxi violence cases.
Chonco's colleagues say he had put his life at risk for years by tackling taxi violence in a terrain dominated by powerful and fearsome taxi bosses.
In September senior Durban police officer, Superintendent Frans Bothma, was gunned down in KwaMashu when he and two colleagues stopped to search a black VW Polo.
While the police questioned one man, another emerged from the vehicle and fired at the officers, fatally wounding Bothma.
The men then fled in the car.
One man was arrested in KwaMashu a week later.
Police claimed that Bothma was killed by a taxi hitman.
There are alleged links between the killing of Inkosi Mbongeleni Zondi by hitmen, and taxi boss Bongani Mkhize.
Mkhize was killed by the National Intervention Unit on Umgeni Road near Connaught Bridge on February 4.
Police sources say they are in possession of a statement indicating that taxi boss Mkhize was present when the plot to kill Zondi was hatched at a restaurant in Durban North.
Zondi, the grandson of a famous Zulu King and a strong ally of ANC president Jacob Zuma, was shot and killed in Durban's Umlazi township.
Zondi, who was instrumental in trying to resolve taxi disputes in the KwaMaphulo area, was the direct grandson of Bhambatha Zondi of the famous Bhambatha Rebellion against British rule in 1906.
He was travelling along Stimela Avenue when his car was ambushed.
Police collected several spent AK-47 cartridges.
Zondi's car, a maroon Toyota RunX, was riddled with 52 bulletholes from AK-47 assault rifles and pistols.
Police said the gunmen had followed Zondi's vehicle until they were able to overtake him and then opened fire.
Four months ago, Mkhize sought a court interdict to stop police from killing, injuring or interfering with him.
Mkhize turned to the courts because he feared for his life after seven of his close associates, all suspected cop-killers, were shot dead by the police.
Two men suspected of killing Zondi – Mswayo Mkhize and Spe Mhlongo – appeared briefly in the Umlazi Magistrate's Court in January.
No charges were formally put to them, and they will remain in custody until Friday, pending further investigations.
After the arrests, police claim they also obtained a statement implicating Mkhize in Zondi's murder.
Crime analysts said the threat made against Cele and police was of concern as it represented a change in violent crime.
Dr Johan Burger, a senior researcher for the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) said this was the first time that he was aware of that an MEC was being threatened by organised crime.
"It does not come as a surprise that any individual involved in the fight against crime and who is seen as a threat is then targeted."
Burger said politicians and organised crime units were often targeted by criminal organisations in South America and Italy but this was almost unheard of in South Africa.
Often investigating officers were murdered in an attempt to derail cases, he said.
"It seems that criminals have now become so brazen that they are not afraid of targeting political office bearers.
"This sets a dangerous precedent and is something that police in KZN must deal with," Burger said.
He said police who dealt with such violent crime organisations needed to use resources like the Tactical Task Force and the National Intervention Unit when taking on these organisations.
"It is clear that criminals do not fear the police and they believe that they can fight police," he said.
David Bruce, a researcher with the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) said the threat made against Cele's life was a serious concern.
"It is almost unheard of for criminal groups that are willing to go to a level of threatening state officials and suggests they are contesting the states right to govern," he said.
In the Daily News, 12 February 2009
CSVR is a multi-disciplinary institute that seeks to understand and prevent violence, heal its effects and build sustainable peace at the community, national and regional levels.
