[imagesource: Natalie Malgas]

Cape Town, as well as other parts of the Western Cape, is in the midst of a brutal and deadly taxi war.

In total, since the start of the year, at least 82 people have been murdered in connection with the war, and tensions have escalated further over the past week.

In amongst the videos of chaos at the central Cape Town terminal, and gunfire in Langa, it’s easy to lose sight of the root cause of what we are witnessing.

The Daily Maverick’s Rebecca Davis has succinctly explained the cause as follows:

The short answer is that two taxi associations — the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) — are fighting over control of the B97 route between Paarl and Mbekweni…

The wider issue, however, is to do with taxi regulation (or lack thereof) and the mafia-like manner in which the taxi industry runs.

…there are registered local route associations that work with planning authorities to ensure that there’s not too much supply or demand on any one route. What happens, however, is that a group of illegal taxi operators will establish their own makeshift taxi rank, and then affiliate with one of the two “mother bodies” — Cata or Codeta — for protection.

In the absence of adequate law enforcement, the previously law-abiding local association is forced to affiliate with the rival mother body for protection — and so the battle lines are drawn.

Much like the mafia, or indeed Cape Town’s gangs, taxi associations view routes and ranks as part of their turf, and will resort to deadly violence to protect them.

Any business that operates in or around the rank, like informal traders, are forced to pay fees, either to the taxi associations or to gangsters who patrol them.

In some cases, hitmen are reported to have been hired to carry out assassinations, as well as running extortion rackets.

Officials are well aware of which routes and ranks are the most dangerous, but “are frequently unable to assert dominance, or scared to do so”.

The recent uptick in violence can also be attributed to younger, more aggressive leadership taking over at both Cata and Codeta.

Cata chairman Victor Wiwi was murdered in April this year.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said yesterday that SANDF would be deployed alongside police at various violence hotspots, whilst Western Cape Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile said roadblocks had been set up to search vehicles for guns.

It’s freezing cold out there, and uncertainty reigns. CapeTalk spoke with Eyewitness News reporter Kevin Brandt, who was on the scene in Khayelitsha:

“I spoke to some stranded commuters… They don’t know when they will get transport. Some people I spoke to have been waiting for three hours… They don’t know if they’ll make it to work. Will they get transport back home?”

As many of us work from home, with the heater cranked up high, that sounds truly hellish.

A reminder that if you work with, or employ, somebody who relies on bus or train transport to get to work, this would be a good time to try and arrange alternate means of transport.

People will be late, or unable to get to work at all, through no fault of their own.

[sources:dailymaverick&capetalk]