THE Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) has appealed to the public to provide the police with any information that may lead to the three suspects behind a shooting that claimed the lives of five of its drivers in Ceres.
“We are saddened and dismayed by the shocking killing of our operators in Ceres, where five drivers were killed at the rank. We also call on community members to assist the police and provide any information that might lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of these killings,” said Cata spokesperson Mandla Hermanus.
He urged authorities to prioritise the investigations of taxi-related killings.
Three yet-to-be-identified suspects opened fire indiscriminately on taxis at a taxi rank after 7am on Tuesday, seriously wounding a man who later died in hospital and four others who died on the scene.
The latest incident brought to 45 the number of taxi-related murders in the Western Cape since the start of the year. Nineteen others were wounded over the same period.
Stellenbosch University criminologist Guy Lamb said taxi associations had been affected by violence for many decades.
The problem was the unregulated industry and competition used to be resolved through the use of violence.
“Usually it is competition over ranks and competition over routes, and it certainly paints them that they can achieve certain supremacy in a town or certain suburb. We have seen taxi associations reaching an agreement on who is going to get what route and what rank. Often when you get new operators trying to get into the scene and push out competitors, you see violence happening. You would see taxi drivers, owners and associations being targeted and so ultimately it’s about controlling the routes and controlling ranks trying to eliminate the competitors,” said Lamb.
He said the government could play a role but would require a lot of resources and regulations to combat the killings.
“The government does not have much of a roll-out, it’s about providing resources to the sector. Not all taxi associations are violent and of course there are those that are violent,” he said.
Police spokesperson Andre Traut said the suspects were yet to be arrested.