Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape refrain from increasing taxi fares but haven’t ruled out the possibility
Twenty-two percent of Capetonians use minibus taxis, but the city’s transport model will reduce this
‘Sufficient police visibility’ planned in the suburbs of Maitland and Ndabeni.
The Western Cape government has warned of route closures and the suspension of operating licences should the violence continue
The demonstration, organised by two taxi associations, Codeta and Cata, blocked several arterial roads into the city’s central business district on Thursday morning
Fears of renewed taxi violence are sparked after the body of a leader of the Congress of Democratic Taxi Association was found on sand dunes near Khayelitsha
Mbongeni Songo is facing four counts of murder and one of attempted murder. A fifth person was wounded in the same incident
Three members affiliated with taxi association Cata have been gunned down at the Joe Slovo minibus taxi rank in Cape Town
But key route remains closed and affected areas halt issuing of operating licences
The flare-up of the taxi war in the Western Cape has again shown the industry’s ability to hold commuters, the state and the local economy to ransom
But despite the calm, rival taxi associations have not yet made peace in their turf war
The closure of the Mbekweni/Paarl and Bellville route comes as negotiations between taxi operators fail and will affect thousands of commuters
Western Cape government cuts off its Blue Dot incentive payments to Cata and Codeta and financial support agreement with Santaco
The Western Cape taxi war now threatens commuters on the Golden Arrow bus service, with talks between various stakeholders not yielding a solution