THURSDAY, 5.00PM
FOLLOWING a month of violence between rival taxi groups servicing Soshanguve north of Pretoria, residents, who have been caught in the crossfire, have called for a 10-week taxi boycott in the area in a bid to end the violence.
The recent violence has claimed the lives of 22 people, many of them taxi passengers, and resulted in injuries to 34 others.
With a taxi driver and one of his passengers wounded in a drive-by shooting on Wednesday, Soshanguve community policing forum chairman Dan Mahlangu said: “We have had enough. We cannot afford to lose one more life in this violence.”
The community on Tuesday set up four committees to put the boycott plan into action, including a call for the closure of taxi ranks and the deployment of soldiers and additional police in the area.
Authorities have reacted swiftly to the call, with the Pretoria city council on Wednesday announcing it is to close the Rietgat taxi rank at Mabopane station, and police on Thursday saying they will close all Soshanguve taxi ranks within the next few days. The council said Rietgat taxi rank should remain closed until police are satisfied it is safe to be reopened.
Mahlangu said on Thursday plans for the boycott are going ahead. “The four committees we have formed to carry out the plan will meet tonight [Thursday] to discuss our preparations,” he said. These include talks with the city council and bus companies to make extra buses available to provide commuters with alternative transport. Police will also be asked to protect these buses from attacks by taxi groups, Mahlangu said.