New WC SANTACO leadership calls on police to prioritise taxi violence cases

The newly elected leadership of the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) in the Western Cape is calling on police to prioritise cases related to taxi violence.

The leadership was introduced to hundreds of taxi owners and drivers at a meeting in Khayelitsha on Wednesday.

The nine-member team includes taxi owners from two rival associations, the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (CATA) and the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (CODETA), along with representatives from other regions in the province.

They were elected at a conference at the end of March.

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In March, members of CATA marched to the Nyanga police station, demanding updates on investigations into the killing of at least 16 of its members since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this week, taxi operators in Retreat and Steenberg also staged a protest, stopping at police stations in Muizenberg, Steenberg and Kirstenhof, calling for protection from gangs they accuse of extorting money from them.

SANTACO’s newly elected provincial chairperson, Besuthu Ndungane, said they plan to engage with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and city law enforcement agencies to repair relations and address the ongoing violence.

“Because it represents a very vulnerable posture for the industry and assumes that any act of violence is a consequence of the behaviour of the minibus taxi industry.”

Ndungane added that they will approach the mobility MEC to organise a lekgotla with transport officials and law enforcement agencies to find solutions to the challenges facing the industry.