- Khayelitsha taxi rank vendors say the taxi war has cost them customers, as passengers move to trains and buses.
- Two vendors say they now sell on credit or borrow money. Western Cape police oversight minister Anroux Marais welcomed three arrests in Mfuleni.
Vendors at the Khayelitsha taxi rank in Cape Town say the war between two taxi associations, the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta), has cost them customers and income.
Fewer drivers and passengers are coming to the rank, they say, and some vendors now sell on credit or borrow to get by.
Nolungisa Nakasana, 38, sells Russians, fried sausages, for R10 and R15. She has had to sell Russians on credit in her community and borrow money.
“I last went to the taxi rank on Wednesday and I came back with the Russians. The taxi war is affecting us badly because the money I make helps me buy food and electricity for my family, but now it is difficult to achieve that,” Nakasana said.
Selling on credit was her only option.
“The people I gave Russians to will pay once they get their social grants. At least I will get paid rather than eating the Russians with my family. Going to the taxi rank is not the same; there are fewer passengers. Most have gone to trains and buses,” she said.
Likhona Tupana, 40, sells full meals and still goes to the rank in the hope that her food will sell out.
“I don’t prepare a lot of food because most drivers are avoiding coming to the taxi rank; some are just staying in their taxis. The taxi war is affecting us badly, and we have debts to pay, so some of us cannot afford to stay at home,” she said.
She says that if it continues, she will struggle to pay off her children’s clothing lay-buy for December.
“If these two associations cannot solve the problems, the government must intervene. Besides us losing money and borrowing money from loan sharks, people, including innocent people, are losing their lives. What is even worse and sadder is that passengers also got shot,” she said.
The war has turned deadly this week. Police said at least three taxi drivers were shot dead in Khayelitsha and Philippi East on Wednesday, 28 October, and four others were wounded. The day before, two men were shot dead in Gugulethu and a third man was killed in a minibus taxi in Khayelitsha.
The City of Cape Town’s Mobility Directorate says the violence stems from long-standing disputes between Cata and Codeta over routes in Delft, Khayelitsha and Somerset West.
Codeta spokesperson Makhosandile Tumana said a meeting between the two associations was moved to Monday, 2 November.
“There is currently an ongoing fight between the two biggest taxi associations, Cata and Codeta; it has reached the boiling point where multiple lives have been lost and others injured,” he said.
On Thursday evening, 29 October, a taxi driver was shot dead in Mfuleni and a woman was wounded. Members of the Mfuleni Crime Prevention Unit, who were patrolling Ngubelani Street, arrested three suspects. They recovered four 9mm pistols and 147 rounds of ammunition.
The suspects, aged between 25 and 30, face charges of murder, attempted murder and possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, police said. They are expected to appear in the Blue Downs Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 2 November.
Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety Anroux Marais welcomed the arrests.
“It is critical that investigators build a strong case and connect all the dots. We need to establish not only who pulled the trigger but also who ordered the killing, supplied the firearms, and orchestrated this violence. Everyone acting to advance their interests through these killings is liable and must be held accountable,” she said.
