Khayelitsha taxi rank. Photo by Cumani Ndabambi.
11 September 2013
Two taxi drivers from the Delft Taxi Association were shot dead during the course of last week in a shooting spree between taxi drivers from Delft, Nyanga and Khayelitsha over ownership of certain routes.
Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) from Nyanga and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) from Khayelitsha are being stopped by the Delft Taxi Association (DTA) from picking up passengers in Delft and dropping them at other destinations.
A taxi owner who wished to remain anonymous said the DTA wants to be fully in charge of the Delft route. “DTA wants other taxi associations to just drop passengers in Delft and not take other passengers as they leave Delft.”
“We are fighting because the DTA is selfish; they want to solely operate in Delft without interference from any taxi association.”
The taxi owner believes the route should be shared because people come in and out of Delft from other areas; taxis from other associations are bound to pick up passengers as they leave the Delft area.
On Monday 9 August, a Delft taxi could not pass Lower Crossroads because taxi drivers were shooting at each other. Passengers and pedestrians were injured.
An eyewitness said that on Saturday 7 August a taxi was set on fire in the Lansdowne area between Lower Crossroads and Nyanga, but she was not sure if the incident was related to the fight among the associations.
Passengers from Delft are scared to take taxis. This past week, taxis from Khayelitsha and Nyanga could not go into Delft because taxi drivers were afraid.
Amanda Nxali of Khayelitsha said, “Now we have to walk from Khayelitsha to Delft because we are scared of being shot while in a taxi. I think the whole fight is ridiculous and it inconveniences people in many ways.” She believes the taxi owners bear grudges that go beyond a fight about a route.
Commuters at the Cape Town rank stand in long queues for hours waiting for taxis to Delft because of a shortage of taxis. Other associations do not want to take passengers to Delft because of the fighting.
“Taxi users are directly affected by this fighting. They are either late for their appointments, school and work, or they stay at home because they are scared to travel,” said a passenger from Delft.
Chairpersons from all three associations declined to comment saying they did not wish to provoke further anger and confusion. One said the fighting will not stop until they all agree.
Police spokesperson Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana says the police and other law enforcement agencies are maintaining a high visibility in the area, especially near taxi ranks and taxi routes in the affected areas.
“The violence is being investigated by the Provincial Taxi Task Team, which consist of different governmental entities like the Transport Department, SAPS, City of Cape Town, Traffic Department, Metro Police, etc.” he said