Cape Town - Tow-truckers have appealed to the national Transport Department to intervene amid fears gangsters are being used to spark violence in an industry turf war.
The situation is so dire drivers have been given details of senior Cape Town security staff to whom they can forward information about tow operators suspected of drug and gun smuggling.
This is in a bid to urgently clamp down on incidents in Cape Town, one of the most volatile towing areas in the country.
On Thursday, the problem is expected to be highlighted at a national road incident management meeting in Durban.
Ettienne Pel, national chairperson of the United Towing Association of South Africa, plans to voice the concerns of industry insiders.
“The industry needs to be regulated and policed... However, with the high levels of corruption, I am not sure if that will ever take place,” he said.
Cape Town has been the scene of a long-running tow-truck turf war, which has resulted in violence, including murders.
In one of the most recent incidents, apparently not reported to police due to fear of reprisals, Pel said a tower was followed and shot at three times in Stikland about two weeks ago.
“Luckily he was not hit.”
In another incident in June, tow-trucker Thomas Dias was murdered in Atlantis.
A tow-truck was also vandalised and set alight in Stellenbosch.
Over several months Weekend Argus spoke to a number of tow- truckers who said bigger companies were trying to edge out smaller ones through intimidation and violence.
The bigger firms were said to be vying for contracts with major insurance companies.
Tow-truckers all mentioned the names of three alleged gang kingpins they suspected were pulling the strings in the industry.
While provincial police did not respond to a query about security involving the towing industry, Weekend Argus understands the alleged kingpins and links between violent incidents are being investigated.
Two weeks ago, due to the escalating violence, Pel wrote to the office of Transport Minister Dipuo Peters.
In his email he said the most volatile towing areas were Cape Town and Durban.
“It has, over the past few months, become a territorial war over who operates where,” Pel said.
“The allegations are that many have had to resort to using gangsters to either protect themselves and/or their companies, and/or use the gangsters to threaten and intimidate others.”
He said claims had also surfaced tow-truckers were transporting illicit goods.
“There are also many allegations that drugs are being used and distributed via this same network, illegal ammunition and firearms, etc.
“Tow operators who are doing their utmost best to adhere to the laws of South Africa are too afraid to speak out and have approached me to take this matter to the highest authority available.”
Pel said some gangsters had threatened motorists involved in accidents to only use a particular tow-truck company.
“To add fuel to the fire, there are continuous allegations of corruption between tow operators and law enforcement officers across the board, from SAPS, to Metro Police, to Traffic,” he wrote.
The Transport Ministry had not responded to queries by the time of publication.
A response to Pel from a chief director in the ministry which has been seen by Weekend Argus, said regulation specifications regarding the towing industry were in the process of being finalised.
The chief director said there was nothing the department could do about violence in the industry.
This week safety and security mayoral committee member JP Smith said he had met tow-truck industry representatives.
He said action would be taken against city staff who worked illegally with towers, but in order to follow up on allegations, details including relevant vehicle registration numbers were needed.
“We supplied contact details for our senior staff so that they could forward details of tow-trucks and owners allegedly involved in drug dealing or trading in illegal firearms so that we can act against them. To my knowledge, this has not happened,” Smith said.
He said legislation on the regulation of tow-trucks was needed.
Weekend Argus
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