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Today, I attended a meeting between the Western Cape Provincial Government, City of Cape Town, SAPS, SANTACO and other stakeholders to discuss the recent flare-up of taxi violence in the province.

The DA in the Western Cape condemns in the strongest terms the brazen attacks on commuters, legal taxi operators and public infrastructure by criminal elements within the taxi industry. This is an obvious attempt to hold the taxi industry, commuters and the province and City to ransom.

It is alleged that illegal operators are behind the stoking of violence in Nyanga and other areas across the Metro as they begin to feel the pressure from the Province and City. Local law enforcement continues to impound illegally operated, unroadworthy taxis.

In the meeting today, it was revealed that the Provincial Government issued approximately 400 permits for the Amaphela taxi operators in Nyanga. However, the operators, allegedly behind the latest violence, only took up 267 permits and 133 were never collected.

There are a number of reasons why some taxi operators fail to apply for permits:
• Vehicles are not roadworthy;
• License disks have expired;
• Tyres are damaged and not looked after; and
• Vehicles pose an overall risk to the safety of commuters and other road users.

It is, however, the responsibility of taxi operators and associations to ensure that they operate with legal permits, that they apply for permits well ahead of their expiration date and that their vehicles are safe and roadworthy. At the same time, it is the responsibility of governments to ensure all road users are protected on the road.

The DA believes that the Western Cape Provincial Government and the City of Cape Town have taken the right approach in dealing with illegal taxi operators. The Provincial Government continues to work with, encourage, train and develop professionalism in the taxi industry. However, illegal taxi operators are attempting to derail this work through sabotage. And wanton violence.

For years, taxi violence has been allowed to flourish due to the lack of accountability, few arrests and zero consequences for those responsible for this violence.

SAPS need to step up and ensure that all those responsible for this violence are arrested and the NPA must ensure that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Officials in both the Province and the City have gone out of their way in trying to assist those with expired permits and licenses. We further welcome the Western Cape Government and City of Cape Town, and SANTACO for their continuous engagement to ensure all legal operators operate within the confines of the law and public safety.

Issued by Ricardo Mackenzie, MPP - DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Transport