Police Minister Bheki Cele will on Thursday afternoon hold a taxi industry stakeholders’ meeting with taxi owners within the Ugu and Harry Gwala Districts in the south of KwaZulu-Natal.
The meeting follows a spate of taxi-related violence, during which taxi owners, drivers, and members of the taxi industry have been wounded and killed.
Security is tight at the Gamalakhe Ugu Sports and Leisure centre on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast where Minister Cele is meeting representatives of taxi associations.
At least five people have been gunned down in the past two months in the industry in Ugu and Harry Gwala Districts.
Police and bodyguards of the taxi owners are deployed outside the venue where the closed meeting is being held.
The Police Department’s spokesperson Lirandzu Themba explains, “It is hoped the engagement which will also be attended by transport officials from the province led by Acting MEC for Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison Jomo Sibiya will put in place short and long-term measures undertaken by the South African Police Service (SAPS) to address taxi industry safety concerns in the district.”
In recent months, there have been a series of taxi violence incidents in the Western Cape.
In March, the Minister of Transport in the Western Cape province made a plea to the police and the taxi industry to bring calm to the province.
