KwaZulu-Natal minibus taxi bosses are to meet Durban city authorities in an attempt to end a simmering feud over routes. "If we don't fix this there could be an unnecessary problem," said the provincial deputy chairman of the SA National Taxi Coalition, Bheki Mbambo, yesterday."We will be calling a meeting soon with the municipality to resolve this issue."Mbambo was speaking at a briefing convened by the Durban Long Distance Taxi Association to allay fears of a looming taxi war after President Jacob Zuma's nephew, Mfundo Gcaba, was accused of leading a hostile takeover of routes on KwaZulu-Natal's South Coast.Gcaba has been accused of spearheading the takeover of taxi routes through Durban's Sonke Long Distance Association.He is alleged to have already "annexed" routes in Highflats, Umzimkhulu, Ixopo, Umzinto and Jolivet.Gcaba and his brother own a taxi empire and are said to be the most feared figures in the KwaZulu-Natal taxi industry.An urgent application for a court order that would prohibit the Sonke association from operating between Durban and Port Shepstone, and deny its members access to Durban's Brook Street taxi rank, has been made by the Zamokuhle Long Distance Taxi Association, in Port Shepstone.The court ruled in favour of Zamokuhle, which has 62 taxi operators as members and 300 taxis, but Gcaba is opposing the application on the grounds that the Port Shepstone taxi association cannot have two starting points.Zamokuhle has accused Gcaba of "threatening our members with violence if they resist their attempts to operate on the Port Shepstone and Durban route".The association also accused him of "intimidation, threats and acts of violence".But Gcaba has denied this and challenged Zamokuhle to "quote a single instance when I threatened them and say how I did this".The dispute will be back in court on Wednesday next week.Sonke chairman Jabulani Mthembu said Gcaba was "just a member of the association, just like anyone else" and denied that Zamokuhle members had been chased from the Brook Street rank."Zamokuhle was told that we should go back to sharing the Brook Street rank like we did in 2005, before we experienced problems and withdrew from the rank.We never chased them away from the rank. It's not true that they have been threatened with violence."The SA National Taxi Council, the Durban Region Long Distance Taxi Association, the Durban Station Long Distance Association and the Berea Long Distance Association have rallied behind the Sonke body.A haunted empireThe Gcaba Brothers run an empire that is without rival in the lucrative long-distance minibus taxi industry.The duo launched their first minibus taxi - the iconic "Zola Budd" with the registration number NUZ 4000 - in 1988.But their rise has not been without tragedy, or the long shadow of violence.The brothers' father, Simon Gcaba, was shot dead at the age of 69 on February 6 1996 . He was an executive committee member of the Durban and District Taxi Association and his protégé, Bernard "Big Ben" Ntuli, who was the president of the association, was fingered as the prime suspect.Ntuli immediately went into hiding but died of cerebral malaria soon after the police offered a R250000 reward for his arrest in connection with a number of taxi-related murders.In 1997, the eldest Gcala brother, Moses, was shot and killed, and another brother, Frank, died in a car accident the following year.Quick factsThe South African taxi industry is estimated to have a turnover of more than R16.5-billion a year.There are 246 taxi associations in KwaZulu-Natal and 16 regions.The first minibus taxi hit the road in Johannesburg in the 1960s.Taxis are the most popular mode of transport in urban areas.It is estimated that 14 million people use taxis every day.Of the 36 lives lost daily on our roads, three are because of taxi-related incidents.In 1994 the government facilitated the formalisation of the taxi industry.200000 minibus taxis were registered in 2006.The most lucrative route is Durban to Johannesburg...