Two people were killed and eight wounded when a group of about 20 men shot, hacked and stabbed members of the public at the Ntlaza taxi rank near Libode on Tuesday night.
A taxi was also set alight in the incident.
In Mthatha, two minibus taxis were torched and a third pelted with stones near the Circus Triangle Shopping Mall yesterday morning.
The latest deaths bring to more than 25 the number of people who have died since May last year when violence erupted between rival taxi associations over routes in Mthatha and surrounds.
Tuesday’s killings came hardly a week after a couple was shot dead in their home in Thabo Mbeki township in Libode.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela yesterday said a taxi driver and a woman caught in the crossfire had died in Tuesday’s shooting.
“The incident happened around 5.30pm and left two people dead and eight others, including a male nurse, injured,” said Fatyela, adding that a taxi had also been set alight.
Health department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said three of the eight injured were in critical condition.
“Some have bullet wounds and others were hacked or stabbed.”
Fatyela said murder and arson cases had been opened but no arrests had been made.
The violence is believed to be linked to two rival taxi associations operating on the R61 between Mthatha and Port St Johns and on the N2 between Qumbu and Mthatha.
The Daily Dispatch has previously reported that Uncedo Service Taxi Association and Border Alliance Taxi Association signed a peace accord late last year after violence escalated. But within a few weeks the violence flared again. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za