By Buziwe Nocuze
Vuyokazi Godlo from Khayelitsha in Cape Town is battling sleepless nights after her car was trashed during the Santaco taxi strike.
Her world turned upside down when she and her sister fell victim to a group of taxi drivers blocking the road in Nyanga township last Monday.
“As soon as we saw them, I tried to reverse as fear engulfed me. While I was in reverse, they began pelting my car with stones,” she said.
She told her sister to leave the vehicle and seek safety.
“Our lives hung in the balance. I realised that if I continued driving while they hurled those stones, our lives would be cut short. We abandoned the car and dashed toward a nearby shack,” she said.
Their possessions, including their IDs, licences, and other vital documents were all trapped inside the car. As they left the scene, they watched the vehicle burst into flames.
“My sister bravely returned to plead for our documents, but as she neared the car, the flames had already started. She politely requested access to our belongings but they told her to fetch water to extinguish the blaze.”
The taxi drivers allowed her sister to retrieve their documents although they could not find them all.
“They said they didn’t know where the documents were or what happened to the money from my wallet,” said Vuyokazi.
“I had committed no wrong against the taxi drivers, nor had I played any role in impounding their vehicles. Their misdirected fury has left me tormented.”
The recent Santaco taxi strike, which ended last Thursday, left a trail of violence in its wake, with innocent individuals like Vuyokazi falling victim to the chaos.
The strike claimed five lives, including that of a law enforcement officer who died in a hail of bullets while inside his official vehicle in Nyanga.
Pictured above: Vuyokazi Godlo’s car destroyed by fire in Nyanga during the Santaco strike
Image source: Supplied
