Taxi bosses to ask Mbeki’s help

By Tarryn Le Chat

Rival taxi groups are going to ask President Mbeki for help to intervene, since provincial government has failed to resolve the re-occurring problem of taxi violence and several deaths of innocent bystanders and taxi drivers in the Western Cape.

According to the Cape Times, the City Council will be asked to control all taxi ranks in the Cape Town Metro pole area.

Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (CODETA) spokesperson, Howard Dyubeni says, “We have had violence for so many years it has become sickening. How many more people must die before this problem is treated with the seriousness it deserves?”

“Provincial government does not seem to be effective enough”, says Dyubeni.

According to the report, Dyubeni’s comments followed Friday’s shooting in Khayelitsha long-distance taxi rank, where a taxi operator was shot dead and six others, including three passengers were wounded.

Police said armed men had opened fire while passengers were preparing to leave.

Police spokesperson, Billy Jones said three of the six people who had been wounded were discharged from hospital yesterday.

No arrests have been made and the investigation into the shooting continues, said Jones.

“Criminals have taken over taxi ranks and local government proceeds to do nothing about the situation”, said Dyubeni

Department of Community Safety spokesperson, Makhaya Mani said that the leaders of taxi associations directly influenced the process of finding solutions to the conflict and those decisions taken at meetings between taxi groups and the authorities were not being filtered down to their members.

Picture: www.suedafrika.net

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