Taxi operator shot dead within hours of ‘truce’

ANOTHER taxi operator was shot and killed in Milnerton yesterday, just a few hours after an agreement was signed between warring taxi associations, the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta).

Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said the police rushed to Freedom Way, Joe Slovo Taxi Rank, at about 1pm yesterday. They found the body of a 56-year-old man with gunshot wounds to his face and chest.

“The unknown suspects fled the scene and are yet to be arrested. The motive for the attack is possibly taxi related,” said Swartbooi.

Transport and Public Works MEC Daylin Mitchell’s spokesperson, Ntomboxolo Makoba-Somdaka, said that after she heard of the incident, she contacted Cata and Codeta leaders, who assured her the killing was not related to the current taxi violence.

The latest killing happened at a time when Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula and MEC Daylin Mitchell were being praised for finally brokering a peace deal between the warring taxi associations.

Ndithini Tyhido, convenor for the Cape Metro Development Council (CDMC), representing more than 25 development forums, congratulated Mbalula and Mitchell for bringing peace to associations Cata and Codeta, which have been engaging in a blood feud over the Bellville to Paarl route (B97).

Tyhido thanked local development forums and other civil society groupswhich decided to independently engage with the taxi associations in their respective localities.

Mbalula and Mitchell had made progress in efforts to resolve the taxi violence sparked by a dispute between Cata and Codeta under the arbitration of the provincial and national transport departments. On Monday, they agreed to end the turf war that disrupted transport in the Western Cape for at least four weeks, killing more than 20 people last month.

Tyhido called on all stakeholders in the metro to come together for a “Public Transport Indaba” to be held next month.

“The Indaba must be charged with the responsibility of carving a path for integrated, reliable, affordable and safe public transport in the Cape Metro, and would have to deal with the structural issues in the taxi industry such as stricter controls on permitting, route demarcations and vetting of members,” he said.

SACP provincial secretary Benson Ngqentsu said the alliance in the province was going to meet and reflect on the agreement reached by the government and the two associations.

Ngqentsu said the agreement was an important breakthrough in resolving the impasse between Cata and Codeta. He said the struggle continued, thus they wanted to argue that the agreement presented an opportunity to get back to the boardroom and attempt to get into the “systematic and structural problems” facing the taxi industry.

While minibus taxis operated in most routes yesterday, Mbalula and Mitchell visited Passenger Rail Agency of SA’s Northern Line,to monitor the service following the taxi violence.