Taxi driver stabs another

A taxi driver in Francistown stabbed another with a knife on his upper thigh in full view of customers in a fight over customers.Tineni Kenalemang, 33, who hails from Sebina village, told The Midweek Sun that on that fateful day in June this year, he was at the Francistown bus and taxi rank queueing for customers like any other normal day without knowing that it would be his last day at the rank. Kenalemang said the accused person was in front of him but decided to leave his vehicle without alerting either the taxi registrar or Kenalemang where he was going. “Since I was right behind him, I loaded a passenger bound to Kgaphamadi location since I knew that most of my colleagues refuse such customers. “When my car was full, my colleague arrived and demanded that all the passenger's should alight from my vehicle to board his taxi, but they refused and instructed me to drive them in my car. “All of a sudden my colleague drove in front and blocked me. I thought he was joking like we usually do during such simple misunderstandings at the rank,’’ Kenalemang revealed. He said that the other driver left his keys inside his vehicle and remarked that he was going to sort him out. Again he took the threat lightly and alighted from his car to remove the car blocking his. As he moved to the other car, the angry colleague took out a knife and stabbed him without warning on his upper right thigh leaving a deep wound, which gushed out blood onto the car bonnet and the pavement. Realising what had happened, Kenalemang quickly jumped inside his taxi and drove to central police and reported the matter. The police took him to hospital where the wound was stitched over 20 times. Now, Kenalemang is afraid of going back to the rank.Francistown Police Station Commander Lebalang Maniki confirmed the incident but refuted claims that the state has been dragging its feet regarding the case. He said a case can be delayed by a variety of factors before it is brought before a prosecutor or magistrate for trial. Regarding this case, he said the complainant has since approached them and that they have identified eyewitnesses that were present at the scene as well as other prospective state witnesses. For his part, Kenalemang was pleasantly surprised at the sudden turn of events. “I was completely surprised today when they (Police) started taking action after you guys (The Sun) made an inquiry through their station commander”, he said.The accused person is said to have been slapped with a single count of causing grievous bodily harm.