Western Cape Transport authorities are considering closing taxi ranks and certain routes following yet another spate of deadly shootings.
Taxi ranks are almost deserted in the Cape Town area as taxi violence has flared again.
Last week, taxi associations, Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata), and Congress of Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) signed a peace agreement in an effort to end the violence.
Three taxi operators were shot dead on Tuesday morning in Khayelitsha.
An emergency meeting was called by the provincial minister of Transport last week in an effort to quell the taxi violence.
Last week, eight taxi operators were gunned down in separate incidents across the Cape metro pole. Cata and Codeta are believed to be fighting over routes.
This situation has led to 76 taxi-related murders this year alone. There were 44 incidents of attempted murder. Provincial Minister of Transport, Daylin Mitchell, says he’s gazetted for the closure of some routes and taxi ranks.
“On Friday after my engagement with the taxi industry, as per the National Land Transport Act, I published my intention to close routes and ranks in the interest of the commuters and communities and ensure and safeguard and keep the commuters safe but also the illegal taxi operators that provide the much-needed taxi service to our commuters, the notice was published and gazetted and interested parties can comment by the 16 of July” says Daylin Mitchell.
Police spokesperson, Joseph Swartbooi, says they are investigating the murder and attempted murder cases.
“Police in the Western Cape are probing the murders and attempted murders which in all probabilities are connected to the taxi in Bukwayo road and Harare. Two 39-year-old men were shot and killed, in Mew Way a 42-year-old man was shot and an unknown man believed to be a taxi driver was transported to a nearby medical facility with guns shot wounds” says Joseph Swartbooi.
South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has called a special executive meeting.
Spokesperson, Gershon Geyer says he’s unsure what triggered Tuesday morning’s shootings.
“There was supposed to be a meeting today. It was postponed between Cata and Codeta, so we don’t know what triggered the shooting this morning and violence, we have no idea what happened,” says Gershon Geyer.
Police say arrests for all the shootings are yet to be made. But they say there were arrests for possession of illegal firearms that have been sent for ballistic testing to see if they were used in the recent taxi killings.
Seven people killed in an ongoing feud between warring taxi associations in Cape Town.
