Taxi blockade in Khayelitsha causes thousands of learners to miss school
The ongoing blockade of learner transport operators in Khayelitsha has resulted in over 13,000 learners missing school since Monday.
The ongoing blockade of learner transport operators in Khayelitsha has resulted in over 13,000 learners missing school since Monday.
Daily commuting in Cape Town has never been so dangerous. Eighty people have been killed this year, casualties in a turf war between taxi associations.
Taxi associations in Gauteng staged a strike on Monday, 22 June, against the covid-19 relief grant from government.
The taxi industry by far transports the biggest number of passengers on any given day, compared to both rail and bus. However, with taxi owners and drivers fighting over routes, the industry is marred by violence that in the conflict between two rival taxi associations in Cape Town, 13 people have been killed.
The peace agreement intended to bring the turf war between rival taxi associations in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape appears to be holding. Police Minister Bheki Cele brokered the deal by closing taxi ranks and routes. A month after the signing of the deal, just two ranks have reopened.
Police minister, Bheki Cele has intervened in the taxi violence in Mthatha that has claimed more than 60 people’s lives since 2016 by suspending major routes indefinitely, until the terms of a peace accord brokered between the warring taxi associations are respected.