Cape Town - Gugulethu residents have banned amaphela (Toyota Avanza) taxis, accusing taxi drivers of committing sexual assaults, house break-ins and robberies in the area.
Residents expressed their frustrations and anger during a protest over the weekend, where hundreds of members of the community took to the streets calling on all the amaphela taxis to stop operating.
Amaphela, which means cockroaches, refers to Avanza private taxi operators, mostly used in Nyanga, Gugulethu and Philippi.
Councillor for the area Sharon Manata said concerns had been mounting over the number of amaphela taxis linked to criminal activities.
“The community is fed up. Women are particularly at risk. There have been reports of women followed into their houses and robbed by the drivers.”
Manata said there must be a way for the people to identify who was a legitimate amaphela driver.
She said even the minibus taxi drivers were feeling intimidated by the amaphela drivers.
Gugulethu Development Forum general secretary Vincent Domingo said the community had decided to stop the amaphela operating until a proper solution was found.
“Right now, there are no Avanzas (amaphela) operating until community and taxi owners come to an agreement.”
Domingo said there would be a meeting with taxi owners and the community on Tuesday.
He said residents had taken to social media platforms to vent their frustration and anger after a spate of house break-ins in the run-up to, and during, the festive season.
Gugulethu residents banned the vehicles accusing taxi drivers of committing sexual assaults, house break-ins and robberies in the area. Pictured is residents expressing their anger during a protest on the weekend. Picture: Facebook
He said in Sections 1, 2, and 3, mainly plasma screen TV sets were stolen and houses were smashed.
“In almost all incidents shared by residents, an Avanza was spotted in the vicinity and used as getaway transport to load the goods and flee the scene.”
Domingo said, as the forum, they elected a task team which would focus on transport, especially amaphelas. Duties of the task team would include monitoring and regulating amaphelas.
Kiki Murray Amaphela Taxi Association chairperson Mkhangeli Dosini said they had heard allegations that some of their drivers were committing crime. He said he could not confirm it, “because we never received any case from anyone, including the police”.
However, Dosini said they would love to meet residents and discuss their concerns, and they would brand their Avanzas and deploy a working committee to make sure commuters were safe.
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