Two warring taxi associations in Port St John’s and Lusikiski in the Eastern Cape have reached an agreement to end taxi violence that has claimed six lives and six vehicles torched.
Uncedo Taxi Association and Border Taxi Association bosses met in Mthatha to craft resolutions to stop the killings in the taxi industry.
Part of the agreement is that any taxi association that is involved in closing and interrupting the traffic flow, will be fined R500 000.
“Both these mother bodies were signing a peace accord to say in this province there will be no more killings, that is why we came up with this agreement to say our colleagues must go back and work and stick to these agreements. They used to work as one. They used to share all what they have and why now are they killing one another. But why now there is these disagreements,” says Songezo Mphanda, Border Alliance Taxi Association President.
“Today we want to make sure that everybody who is involved in this taxi violence, be it Lusikisiki, Port St Johns or Mathambalele but must toe the line and preach peace in the taxi industry. Taxi operators and bosses have agreed that the operations at Mathambalele route will go smoothly without any interruptions. We are not expecting any violence now, we will monitor the situation. We want to make sure that there is no more killings,” says Fuzile Mtshengele, Uncedo Taxi Association President.
