By Deepa Seetharaman
Police are boosting security on contested taxi routes in Cape Town after violence has left three people dead and several injured.
"We have a plan," said Superintendent Billy Jones of the Western Metropole.
"We'll have more deployment and more stop-and-searches."
On Friday, two gunmen opened fire on parked taxis at the Delft South taxi rank. A passenger was shot in the head and the driver, 27, was hit in the upper arm. Both were rushed to a hospital.
They are still alive but in a serious condition, Jones said.
Several people have been injured in a surge in taxi violence after a flare-up between the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and the Congress for Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta).
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Cata, which operates in Nyanga and Bellville, lost three drivers in the violence in the past week. They claim Khayelitsha-based Codeta has unlawfully used routes in the Kraaifontein area, especially the lucrative Cape Gateway route.
Last Thursday, Khayelitsha taxi driver Setelo Santo, 39, was shot dead, while two children and another driver were wounded in two other attacks. Earlier in the week driver Mondi Mankebe, 29, was shot dead in Wallacedene.
At a special meeting on Thursday, Community Safety MEC Leonard Ramatlakane called on taxi organisations to punish the members backing violence.
deepa.seetharaman@inl.co.za
- This article was originally published on page 2 of Cape Argus on May 05, 2007
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