Taxi violence stifles local economy

Taxi violence on the Dolphin Coast (and South Africa) is like flies on a hot summers day – you just can not seem to get rid of it.

Rival taxi associations have for years been involved in a bloody turf war with revenge killings as regular as clock work.

The Courier took to the streets of Stanger and spoke to commuters and taxi owners to find out what they think a possible solution could be.

The first stop was the Maphumulo taxi rank where we spoke to Maphumulo Taxi Association member and taxi owner, Patrick Zothwa.

He said it was difficult to solve the problem because government, more specifically the department of transport, favoured the Stanger Taxi Association.

“We believe if the minister of transport would intervene, a solution might be found,” said Zothwa.

From the Maphumulo rank we walked to the Stanger taxi rank right next door and immediately noticed a tangible sense of hostility in the air.

Security guards with automatic weapons and bulletproof vests patrolled the rank and nobody greeted us or returned our greetings.

The taxi owners all sat in a room and closed the door when they saw us approaching.

After a few seconds, a man came outside to find out what we wanted and told us that they would not speak to us. We had to contact their spokesperson, Banoginkosi Gwala.

Gwala offered no solution but passed the buck to the department of transport, saying that they were the ones who issued permits and it was therefore their job to set the rules for the taxi industry.

“If we fail to obey those rules, there must be consequences. Government should not be afraid to set rules for us,” he said.

The ongoing taxi wars are negatively influencing the economy and Stanger residents are feeling the additional pinch in already tough economic times.

Outside the Boxer mall, next to the Stanger and Maphumulo ranks is a network of vendors and small businesses where owners said their businesses suffered losses due to taxi violence.

Most vendors were afraid to speak to us and those who did would not give their names because they were afraid of the taxi bosses.

They said they lost business because customers were afraid to shop near the taxi ranks.

Bullet holes large enough to fit a finger in were still visible in some shop walls from the last time bullets flew. It is clear these people sit on a ticking time bomb.

A lady from Thembeni said taxis should be nationalised: “If that could happen, nobody would fight and taxi owners would work for government.”

She said taxi owners did not respect their (vendors’) businesses and customers always feared getting killed.