Taxi bosses were locked in a meeting last night to prevent further killings after 10 minibus taxi drivers were shot dead at the weekend.
Rival taxi associations - Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta) - said they were trying to defuse the tension since Friday. The shootings took place in Nyanga, Khayelitsha and Wynberg.
Three drivers have been wounded since the violence broke out on Friday. The dispute is believed to be over operating routes.
In the latest shootings a 60-year-old man died after sustaining gunshot wounds in Capital Drive, Bongweni, in Khayelitsha on Saturday night and a passenger, a 60-year-old woman, was wounded.
Detectives were following leads yesterday.
The shootings started in Wynberg on Friday and escalated to Saturday night.
A 28-year-old man had a narrow escape after being shot at on Friday at the Wynberg taxi rank.
Following that incident two suspects, aged 39 and 45, were arrested in Gugulethu. Two unlicensed firearms were seized.
A man in his forties was shot dead at about 5.45pm in Borcherds Quarry in Nyanga. His death came less than an hour after a 40-year-old was shot dead in Govan Mbeki Road in Nyanga on Friday.
Following that incident, a 35-year-old man and a commuter were shot and wounded on the corner of Emms Drive and Terminus Doad in Nyanga.
A 43-year-old man was also shot dead at Govan Mbeki Road on Friday. An hour later, a 26-year-old man was shot and killed at Ncinciba Street in Philippi East.
His death was followed by that of a 27-year-old, who was shot dead in Govan Mbeki Road in Nyanga.
Later an unidentified taxi driver was shot dead at the corner of New Eisleben and Sheffield roads in Philippi on Friday. Another taxi driver was fatally shot in Sonwabile Street in Old Crossroads on Saturday morning.
That was followed by the killing of another taxi driver in Entokozweni Street in Old Crossroads.
An unidentified taxi driver was shot dead in Luzuko, Philippi East, in the afternoon.
The police’s Tactical Response Unit and the National Intervention Unit teams have since been deployed at identified hot spots to complement station deployments.
“Emergency meetings in the transport sector, City of Cape Town, traffic services, SAPS and other law enforcement agencies are under way in an effort to determine the source of the violent incidents.
‘‘Police have vowed to clamp down on all taxi-related violence, including the latest cases,” police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said last night.
Cata spokesperson in Nyanga Andile Seyamo said: “We are busy researching what the causes of these shootings are. Only drivers were shot.
“None of the shot people were owners and it’s all drivers of taxis that operate locally in the Nyanga, Gugulethu and Philippi East areas. We want to find a solution before this escalates and affects innocent commuters.
“We have informed the police and we are working with them to identify the culprits. Our working committee, which is our law and order unit, has been activated to look into this matter. We want to make sure that our drivers and commuters remain safe.”
Seyamo said Cata and Codeta had reached an agreement to talk to their members and assure commuters there would be no more shootings. He said the associations would visit the scenes of the shootings today, and visit the affected families later this week.
A taxi driver operating in Nyanga, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Taxis have not been operating since Saturday morning. We fear for our lives because we don’t know who is behind the killings and why we are being targeted.
“We were told that the shooters get on a taxi, pay the taxi fare and then shoot him (the driver). We believe there are no specific targeted persons, but any drivers operating in the Nyanga, Gugulethu and Philippi East are targets.”
Anyone with information about these incidents can contact the police anonymously on 08600 10111 or SMS Crime Line at 32211.