Cape Town - Minibus taxi drivers operating on the Bellville route via Voortrekker Road shut down their services on Tuesday after brewing frustration over alleged increased gang activity.
The drivers claim gangsters are demanding a protection fee from them.
Voortrekker Road was unusually quiet on Tuesday as taxi drivers parked their vehicles at the Bellville rank, and left them there.
The drivers shut down their services saying they were “fed-up with gangs demanding money and robbing” them.
The shutdown comes a week after a taxi guard was killed allegedly after he refused to pay gang members R5 protection fee at a stop at the corner of Durban and Voortrekker roads.
Taxi driver Sandile Shumi said the shutdown was a call for help to authorities and taxi owners. “We need help. These gangsters are posing as commuters entering our vehicles only to rob us and our passengers. They are armed with guns and knives. We want owners to intervene now. We have already lost one member. We cannot afford to lose more.”
The gangs are said to operate in rotations. It’s believed they wait at stops such as the Sanlam Centre in Parow, outside Shoprite and along Voortrekker Road to Elsies River.
“We are fed up. We cannot fight this battle alone; we need owners to fight with us or else their pockets will suffer as we are suffering,” said Shumi.
Another driver, Onke Williams, said men in the taxi business were always perceived to be “ruthless people” who took the law into their own hands.
“When we get into our vans and hunt these gangsters down, beat them up and solve them, police arrest us and we are the ones who rot in jail with no bail money. Our owners then fire us and replace us with other drivers - where does that leave us?
“We are going to do things accordingly now, not because we are scared of these gangsters but because we value our jobs.”
Bellville taxi rank manager Mogamat Gordon said a meeting was planned with the local police and owners.
Cape Argus