Calls for calm intensify as WC taxi violence spirals

Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has joined appeals for calm after several shootings linked to route disputes between rival taxi associations in the Western Cape.

The violence involves the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta), Mihle George reports for EWN.

Two people were wounded in a shooting at the Delft Palm taxi rank on Wednesday morning.

Zwelihle in Hermanus, Epping, Maitland, Delft, Mfuleni and Gugulethu are among the areas affected. Footage showing terrified commuters ducking for cover has circulated widely on social media, and the violence is believed to continue despite earlier peace agreements.

Hill-Lewis called on taxi industry leaders to rise above the violence so that commuters can go about their business in peace.

He said Metro Police are ready to work with the South African Police Service, including by sharing safety-camera footage and putting officers on the ground, and have stepped up their presence around transport interchanges and taxi ranks.

Western Cape mobility MEC Isaac Sileku warned both associations to end the violence or face decisive action.

He said that whenever there is an impasse in the province’s minibus taxi industry, it is always Cata and Codeta.

Law enforcement will be deployed to hotspots, and a meeting between industry representatives and government officials is due on Thursday. Sileku said it must produce a clear commitment to stop the killings.