Behave or we'll shut you down, Cape taxi bosses told after violent protest

Certain taxi routes and ranks in Nyanga could be closed down and operating licences suspended if the violence between rival associations continues, the Western Cape transport MEC warned on Friday.

Daylin Mitchell said the violence was a threat to the government and  people of the Western Cape, and such “flagrant disregard for the law” would not be tolerated.

“Departmental officials have already asked legal services to draft a notice to declare the Nyanga area a high risk in respect of taxi violence,” Mitchell said in a statement.

“This will allow me to invoke my powers in terms of section 91 of the National Land Transport Act to close certain routes and ranks and to suspend affected operating licences.

“I will not hesitate to take the actions required to stabilise the situation and to guarantee passenger safety. We will then develop and implement a transport contingency plan to provide for the additional commuting needs that may arise.”

His warning followed a day of mayhem in Cape Town on Thursday, when taxis blocked major highways before hundreds of drivers made their way to the city centre to hand over a memorandum to the office of Western Cape premier Alan Winde.

In other parts of the city, including Nyanga, the protest became violent and three Golden Arrow buses were torched. A week ago the bus company lost two of its buses to a petrol bombing in Nyanga after taxi violence erupted.

While public transport appeared to be operating normally on Friday, Mitchell said he is still deeply disturbed by Thursday's events.

“Given the unrest in Nyanga and the violent protest that happened yesterday, the office of the registrar has sent out notices to all associations to comply with the code of conduct and standard constitution for minibus taxis,” he said.

All taxi associations, including rivals Cata and Codeta, were required to act against any misconduct perpetrated by their members and drivers, he said.

“Operators and drivers are not permitted to intimidate or threaten any person. We will have no hesitation to suspend or deregister associations and/or members who violate any relevant statutory prescripts.”

While it was studying the memorandum, the provincial government “will not allow the other events of the day to go unchallenged. We have already engaged the City of Cape Town and the city has agreed to suspend the (regulatory) process for all Codeta and Cata-affiliated associations should the violence continue. This means that no new operating licences will be issued to members of these associations until the suspension is lifted.”

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.