Cape Town – Calm has been restored to Gugulethu after residents brought parts of the area to a standstill while demanding a ban on Avanza taxis.
Residents were outraged after reports emerged at the weekend that a 13-year-old had allegedly been raped by a taxi driver and his friends as she walked home from school.
While police said a rape case had yet to be opened, hundreds of residents marched from NY1 to NY78, demanding Avanza taxis be banned from the area.
Since then, continuous meetings have been held between community leaders, taxi owners and police regarding the taxis and safety.
Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) spokesperson Andile Soyama said he was hoping that there would be a positive outcome from today’s meeting and that those implicated in wrongdoing would be held accountable.
“The taxis have been banned from operating in the area for a while. We hope that everything will be back to its normality and that the taxis will continue operating the routes.
“As Cata we promise the residents that once we know who these perpetrators are, they will be banned from driving our taxis because that is not what we stand for,” said Soyama.
Gugulethu Development Forum chair Vincent Domingo welcomed the decision to ban Avanza taxis in the area and said leaders would continue engaging with Cata, police and other stakeholders.
The taxis will not be operating in the whole of Gugulethu.