Cape Town - Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has called those involved in the taxi violence in Cape Town “thugs” as he held a digital press conference to address the issue on Tuesday.
A conference held by Winde included provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile, Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz and Transport and Public Works MEC Daylin Mitchell.
Taxi violence continues unabated in the metropole as drivers and commuters are shot at and killed.
On Tuesday, a 42-year-old man attached to a rival taxi association was shot and injured at about 4.30am at his home in Mnga Street in Witsand just outside Atlantis. The warring associations are the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta).
“These warlords and thugs in the taxi industry are holding so many of our citizens to ransom. The murders we have seen in the last while, the innocent citizens and bystanders that are affected by this thuggish behaviour is absolutely unacceptable and needs to be dealt with in the harshest terms possible.
“These thugs need to be arrested. These thugs need to be taken off our streets,” Winde said.
Fritz shared Winde’s sentiments, saying the province was being “ravaged by a group of terrorists”.
“There are terrorists existing in this province at the moment. Private cars are now being targeted. I call them terrorists because they are worse than our gangsters,” Fritz added.
Patekile said there had been no shooting incidents reported in relation to taxi violence since the shooting earlier in Witsand.
He said buses were being escorted and unmarked vehicles were moving between routes to ensure stability and a swift reaction should anything happen.
Roadblocks were being set up and all firearms, whether registered or not, were being confiscated and sent for ballistic testing.
“As of Monday, 12 members from Cata and Codeta have been arrested and 14 firearms have been recovered. We have not been able to link them to the shooting incidents. The firearms have been sent for ballistic testing,” Patekile said.
He said additional police officers have also been deployed to trains, while members of the SANDF remained in the province.
Patekile emphasised the need to stabilise the violence within the taxi industry.
African News Agency (ANA)