Time to bring taxi industry to heel

In South Africa, when civilians start shooting each other, the cops don’t arrest them and seize their weapons. Here, the law and order authorities declare a ceasefire… and implore both sides to stick to it.

That is what is happening with the current taxi carnage in Gauteng, in which 59 people have died so far this year.

That’s roughly four murders a week. And they are murders, for there is no justification – legal, ethical, moral – for killing people simply because you consider them a threat to your business.

That, in essence, is what the ongoing violence is about: A venal, bloody turf war between kingpins in an industry which has no moral compass whatsoever.

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Closure of taxi ranks

The solution of the Gauteng authorities – of closing down some taxi ranks for a period – is likely to be a joke.

Because how do you enforce such a closure when you’re dealing with the second-most lawless group in our society, after out-and-out criminals?

We would say that the time has come to bring the taxi sector to heel – make it pay taxes and obey the rules of the road for a start – but it has grown too big and too brutal to control.

NOW READ: Gauteng taxi violence: 59 people killed since January