Suspect in Western Cape taxi boss Charmaine Bailey murder case appears in court

Nkosinathi Goso, the man arrested in connection with the murder of prominent taxi official Charmaine Bailey, made a brief appearance on Monday morning at the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court in Cape Town. 

Goso (32) is accused of gunning down Bailey (56) in May. She was the secretary of the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and a training officer for the Cata Regional Taxi Council.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Yet another taxi kingpin gunned down in Cape Town as industry violence intensifies

Goso is facing charges of murder, illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition. His case was postponed until 18 July for his bail application.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said Goso was arrested on Saturday in Hout Bay during a police tracing operation.

The arrest came after Cata made the shocking allegation that its own members were behind Bailey’s murder. The taxi association has since suspended about four members who are suspected to be behind the murder. 

Cata spokesperson Nkululeko Sityebi said they shared the information with the police, which led to the arrest.

“We are happy that the wheels of justice are turning even though this will not bring back the life of Charmaine,” he said. 

Sityebi said Cata officials do not know the arrested suspect but he said Bailey’s shooting was planned by their own members.

“The hitman is not from our organisation,” he explained.

“Remember, people use a hitman from outside, but we suspended those who were involved in the planning and they are from the Hout Bay side. We presented our internal investigation to the law enforcement officers.”

He neither revealed why Cata members would want to murder one of their own, nor did he reveal the names of the suspended members, who are yet to be arrested.

Western Cape Mobility MEC Ricardo Mackenzie welcomed Goso’s arrest and said his office would monitor the case and continue to follow up with the SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) until there is a successful conviction.

“I am grateful for this breakthrough and progress made by the SAPS in the investigation. Only successful convictions will stop or significantly reduce violent incidents in the minibus taxi industry,” he said.

Mackenzie recently met with the provincial leadership of the SAPS and the NPA and established a joint task team to deal with minibus taxi-related violence.

The focus of the task team will be to go after the hitmen, but also the paymasters who fund and order murders and other crimes affecting the taxi industry, such as extortion.

“My department will fully support law enforcement in whichever way possible to bring perpetrators of minibus taxi-related crimes to book,” Mackenzie said.

Bodies have been piling up in the province in recent months because of the taxi violence, which is linked to the bloody rivalry between Cata and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta).

Read more in Daily Maverick: Bodies pile up as Cape Town taxi violence continues to rage in bloody Cata and Codeta rivalry

Bailey’s killing came exactly a month after the fatal shooting of Codeta leader Sizwe Khobocwana, the chairperson of Route 1 between Khayelitsha, Wynberg and Claremont, who was shot repeatedly in his vehicle in front of his home in Kuils River in April. 

Two more members of the taxi industry, including Codeta Paarl chairperson Siyabulela Mandyoli, were fatally shot in Paarl in June. DM