Gauteng Safety Committee Asks For Police Report On Taxi Violence

The Gauteng portfolio committee on community safety says it has requested a formal report from the provincial police commissioner on the status and progress of the investigations into taxi-related killings.

This comes after three members of the Witwatersrand African Taxi Association were shot and killed on Zulu Road in Mofolo Central, Soweto, on Monday morning an incident police have linked to the taxi violence in the province.

An eyewitness told Sowetan he heard multiple gunshots and saw what looked like a car chase. Moments later, he said, the vehicle being chased hit a tree. A man holding a gun alighted from the chasing car, and looked into the crashed Toyota Corolla, apparently to check if the people inside were still alive.

Bandile Masuku, chairperson of the committee, said they strongly condemn the killings and called for the Gauteng police to intensify visible policing, intelligence-led operations, and swift arrests to dismantle the criminal elements fuelling the violence.

Such brazen acts of violence undermine the rule of law and threaten the safety of communities relying on the taxi industry for daily commuting to and from work as well as various destinations, Masuku said.