Western Cape Transport MEC Robin Carlisle has described Nyanga taxi rank as "a very bloody scene of this ongoing battle".
|||Cape Town - Following the worst spate of taxi murders in recent years, transport MEC Robin Carlisle has called for urgent police and security intervention at Nyanga taxi rank.
Carlisle inspected the rank on Monday morning and spoke to commuters and taxi bosses about the violence. There have been 35 murders or attempted murders associated with Cape Town’s taxi industry since June last year. There has apparently not been a single arrest in any of the 35 taxi-related shootings.
Fighting between two factions in the Bellville Taxi Association (Bellta) has spilled over to other areas, and shootings have also occurred at Delft, Nyanga and Bloekombos taxi ranks. The friction is over routes.
In recent months, executive members of the associations’ umbrella body, the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata), have also come under attack. Some Bellta members have accused the Cata executive of taking sides in the internal power struggle.
“Nyanga has become a very bloody scene of this ongoing battle,” Carlisle said, citing indiscriminate shootings and murders of drivers and operators at the rank.
Victor Wiwi, Cata’s long-distance taxi chairman, accompanied Carlisle this morning. Hitmen killed Wiwi’s driver when they attacked his car in Nyanga a little over two months ago. It is believed Wiwi was the intended target of the shooting – he had left the car moments before the hitmen arrived.
Wiwi complained that police had not investigated the murder properly, saying they had not interviewed him or viewed the car in which his driver was killed.
“These (police) inefficiencies do nothing to deter these criminals from committing these crimes and threatening the stability of this vital industry,” Carlisle said. However, he added the key to ending the violence was a commitment on the part of the industry to resolving its internal issues.
Carlisle’s visit to the rank came a little over a week after a meeting between his department, the SA National Taxi Association (Santaco), the city council and representatives from 150 taxi associations. A “non-violence treaty” was signed at the meeting.
But earlier this year, the Cape Argus reported on similar treaties and agreements being signed by members of rival factions in Bellta, apparently with little effect on the violence.
Some of the sanctions the department has enforced include suspension of operating licences for associations whose members are implicated in the violence.
Carlisle also suggests regular police patrols at Nyanga taxi rank and installing CCTV cameras.
The visit highlighted other commuter issues, which Carlisle said he would bring up with the council.
The queue for the Wynberg taxis had hundreds of people in it this morning, indicating that taxi permits for some routes might not be being issued on the basis of proportional needs. They are issued by the City of Cape Town.
Commuter Lindelwa Mapukata said she had to allow for 3.5 hours travelling time every morning to get to her job in Tokai.
Carlisle said the rank was “self-managed” well by most commuters and operators but better municipal services were needed in terms of shelter, sanitation and refuse removal.
daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za
Cape Argus