Tshwane - Police Minister Fikile Mbalula on Tuesday said police have now intervened "heavily" in the ongoing violence between traditional metered cab drivers and operators of the popular e-hailing service Uber.
"The taxi drivers must understand that they have no right to take the law into their own hands, and to do what they are doing. So we got to intervene, and we are intervening heavily on that particular matter. We have had a security meeting on that particular issue," Mbalula told reporters in Pretoria.
"We have already met the Uber people in and around Johannesburg. Tomorrow we are meeting the department of transport to appraise ourselves on what is happening. The details of what we are going to do to prevent this [violence], we can't give to you. We need to arrest those doing this illegal activity thinking that in darkness they will never be found. We will find them."
Mbalula said the national transport department is crucial in pacifying the situation because at the centre of the violence is business competition.
"It is competition. It is about the fact that Uber is too sophisticated and it has taken away a portion of the market from the taxi drivers. In terms of the metered taxi drivers, they are more expensive than Uber, and Uber is accessible at all places. It can fetch you from your house even if you are a celebrity and you don't want to be seen that you don't have a car. Uber has restored dignity to such people," said Mbalula.
"Now you see people jumping out of expensive cars, thanks to Uber. It has restored the dignity of people practicing their celebrity status without being interrupted. The metered taxi [on the other hand] has identification. So when you come out of a metered taxi, you don't want to be seen. It's a lifestyle issue."
Mbalula said the metered taxis were also struggling to compete with Uber because of the cheaper fares charges by the app-based Uber service.
"You can be drunk in a nightclub, you call Uber and it will [take you home] and knock for your girlfriend or husband, or your brothers. They will drop you at your doorstep. You will not be robbed. You will be intact up until you get sober the following day. So Uber has become a lifestyle issue for the young generation," he said.
"We need to address what the metered taxis are raising, and we need to talk to them. They are our people, our brothers. This is a black industry. They have lived on taxis and the taxi economy. If we kill it, we are killing the bread for the majority of the disadvantaged. But equally, Uber is not dominated by another racial group. It is the benefit of our people."
Mbalula warned that the police will arrest anyone involved in the violence, which has now claimed the life of an Uber partner driver Lindelani Mashau. Several Uber vehicles have been torched and outbursts of violence have been witnessed in different cities.
Mashau died on Monday after suffering serious burn wounds. He was in his car when it was set alight - allegedly by metered taxi drivers - outside Loftus Versveld in Pretoria more than a month ago. He survived but suffered extensive burn wounds.
The metered taxi industry has been at loggerheads with Uber drivers since the taxi-hailing app was launched in South Africa. Uber is accused of "'stealing business" and operating illegally.
Police Minister Fikile Mbalula on Tuesday said police have now intervened "heavily" in the ongoing violence between traditional metered cab drivers and operators of the popular e-hailing service Uber.
VIDEO: Jonisayi Maromo