Fury after taxi operator dies in police custody

Following the recent death of taxi driver, Luvuyo Vimba, allegedly at the hands of the police and law enforcement officials, Codeta held a press briefing in Khayelitsha on Wednesday afternoon.

The Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) says it will not take the abuse from the City of Cape Town’s law enforcement agencies and the South African Police Services (Saps) lying down.

South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), Western Cape general secretary, Ryno Saaiers, conveyed condolences to Vimba’s colleagues and family, and pledged their support for Codeta. “As a united taxi industry, which the government doesn’t like, we are in full support of Codeta. We as taxi operators are nothing without our drivers. I can have 100 taxis, but without a driver I am going to starve. We need to give our drivers a little bit more credit. We are not saying all our drivers are angels, but for a driver to die at the hands of law enforcement is unacceptable. We condemn any actions of violence from any side,” said Saaiers.

“I have asked the president of Codeta, for us not to politicise this unfortunate incident. We must support the family in their time of need,” he added.

Nceba Enge, president of Codeta, said Vimba was a victim of police brutality. In a statement, Codeta said it will not rest until justice is served for Vimba. “[A]nd until the City of Cape Town acknowledges and rectifies its systematic mistreatment of taxi operators, we will stand firm in defence of our members, who deserve the same respect, protection and dignity as any other citizen of Cape Town,” their statement reads.

Mbulelo Dwane from the Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF), said they will support whatever decision Codeta takes. “We will be there for mobilisation, should there be a need for any plans of action. We think it’s too much now. We don’t know who is next, Luvuyo is not the first nor the last person who is going to die at the hands of law enforcement officers in the Western Cape or Saps. It’s time now for us to go to the streets, …. to show that we are feeling the pain that the government is causing us,” said Dwane.

The taxi association claims that one of its drivers, Luvuyo Vimba, was killed by police. Archive photo by Vincent Lali

Family wants murder to be investigated

The family of the murdered taxi operator said they want justice, and will not rest until those responsible for his death are held accountable. His brother, Malusi Vimba said, “Luvuyo was a breadwinner for his family. He was a father. His father resides in Johannesburg and his mother passed away a long time ago. He was the sole provider. I don’t know how his family will cope going forward. He was a very quiet person at home. We were shocked when we heard that he fought with a police officer in town, until we saw the video. It is unlike him to do that.” He has not received any visit from law enforcement agencies regarding what happened.

A screengrab from a video that has been shared on social media.

His uncle Elvis Mzolisa, said, “We want to know what happened from those who were there. We found him already dead and we are also still waiting for results from the post mortem, to find out what killed him. We found him in the hospital as the family. But according to the videos that were circulating, the police took him from where he was working.”

The family were told of Luvuyo’s arrest by his taxi driver colleagues. “On Friday, we went to the police station and were told that we could not see him because he had been arrested for assaulting a cop. On Saturday morning we went again, and we didn’t find him again. We heard that he is in the hospital, but when we arrived there we could not find him. Until someone who works at the hospital morgue told us that he has passed on,” Mzolisa said.

The family do not know if a case has been opened or not, and are speaking to lawyers. The Western Cape police did confirm that Vimba’s case is being investigated by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid). Elitsha will update the story once it gets a response from Ipid.