WESTERN CAPE. – Police and the City of Cape Town held discussions on Thursday about taxi violence and the challenges affecting the public transport sector. The safety of commuters, public transport operators and communities was discussed.
Lt. Gen. Sizakhele Dyantyi, Western Cape provincial police commissioner, his provincial management, as well as representatives from the City of Cape Town's safety and security directorate, Vincent Botto, Commissioner Johan Brandt and Wayne le Roux, were present. Police and the City confirmed their commitment to cooperation through coordinated operations, targeted deployments and visible policing to prevent and respond to taxi violence. Those responsible for violence must be brought to account to protect the public.
Police say it will continue to work with its partners to combat violent crime and make public transport safer in the Western Cape.
Violence between taxi associations is strongly condemned by the City of Cape Town after several shooting incidents were reported at taxi ranks since Wednesday. The violence affected Delft, Khayelitsha, Mfuleni and Gugulethu among others. The Delft public transport interchange (PTI) was temporarily closed after violence broke out. The City warns that ongoing route disputes could affect thousands of commuters who rely on minibuses daily.
Geordin Hill-Lewis, mayor of Cape Town, says the City is offering its full support to police – metro police officers have responded with police to various incidents. JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security, calls on the public to share information about the shooting incidents.
According to councillor Rob Quintas, mayoral committee member for urban mobility, the violence is linked to long-standing route disputes between the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta), particularly in Delft, Khayelitsha and Somerset West. The latest tension centres on disputed routes between Delft, Epping and Killarney. The city calls on the associations' leadership to bring their members to order and end the violence.
The public can report information anonymously to the City's hotline at 0800 110 077, which is available 24 hours a day.
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
