Police Minister Bheki Cele says he will be forced to shut down all taxi ranks in the Western Cape if killings in the industry do not stop.
He says 45 people, including ordinary civilians, have been killed in taxi related violence incidents since April 2018.
Cele has met with various taxi associations in Cape Town to chart a way forward.
The taxi industry in the Western Cape has been marred by a lot of tension over routes in recent months.
Commuters are often the hardest hit.
The problems in the Western Cape taxi industry are not new.
More than 60 people have been killed in the province since 2017. Recently 13 others died in violence in Delft and the Cape Metro.
Police Minister Bheki Cele has called for end to all the taxi violence related deaths.
“Last year in three months – from April, May and June – 22 people died through related taxi issues. This year same time 44 have died and June has not ended which means it will be more already.”
A high level government delegation also attended the meeting. Deputy Transport Minister Sindy Chikunga highlighted the issues within the taxi associations.
“Another issue raised by the associations is with regards to operating licenses so you have licenses that are used willy-nilly to a extent that even if they are legal, we have routes that are saturated so you need to look into that we don’t just issue operating license on those that are already over-saturated.”
Meanwhile the various taxi associations have committed and agreed that the violence needs to stop.
Spokesperson for Codeta Taxi Association Besethu Ndungane says:”We have made a commitment to the national minister police that this violence should come to an end with immediate effect.”
The minister together with the taxi associations will meet again in two weeks’ time.
