Santaco distances itself from incidents of violence in Khayelitsha

The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has distanced itself from several incidents of violence where buses were attacked in Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats.

Taxi operators in the Western Cape are currently on strike.

Two buses have been torched.

Police have arrested three suspects allegedly with strong links to the taxi industry in Delft, after thirteen petrol bombs were found in their vehicle.

Deputy Chairperson of Santaco Nceba Enge says opportunists are using their strike to commit criminal acts.

“The strike should be peaceful. We have issued a statement last week encouraging our people not to involve themselves in such violent activities and we also wrote a letter to Golden Arrow informing them and encouraging them to use their discretion about their buses in this township and stuff because when something of this nature happens, there are other people that will take the opportunity and do their own thing so we want to distance ourselves.”

SANTACO’s two-day stay-away to continue in the Western Cape on Monday and Tuesday

Meanwhile, member of the Mayoral Committee for Safety and Security, JP Smith, says three buses have been set alight, another one hijacked and several roads closed.

Smith says members have now been placed on the buses to ensure the safety of commuters.

“Cowardly attacks were launched on some public transport vehicles earlier this morning in Khayelitsha when two Golden Arrow buses and a MyCiti bus were burnt out. It has become the norm for certain role players within the public transport sector to attempt to destroy the competition and burn out competing public transport vehicles.”

SANTACO in the Western Cape calls for blue dot taxi programme to resume: