POLOKWANE – The MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Makoma Makhurupetje, has condemned spontaneous taxi violence in Zebediela which has left one person dead.
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This comes after a queue marshal, affiliated to the United Zebediela Taxi Association (UZETA) died this morning at Moletlane in Zebediela, after he was ran over by a taxi driver belonging to Lebowakgomo Taxi Owners Association (LTO).
Spokesperson for the department, Matome Moremi-Taueatsoala, says this led to retaliation by a rival group which resulted in at least one mini-bus taxi being set on fire.
“As a department, we want to convey our deepest condolences to the family and relatives of the deceased following this unfortunate incident. The kind of violence that happened this morning is not warranted at all, more especially after we have just emerged from the provincial taxi imbizo, where majority of associations committed themselves to peaceful means of resolving disputes. As government, we want nothing but peace and stability in the industry and no amount of violence will help anyone to resolve challenges” said MEC Makoma Makhurupetje.
In the wake of the incident, Makhurupetje has instructed the departmental Provincial Taxi Conflict Resolution Task Team to convene an urgent meeting with the two associations to establish the cause of this incident and to further provide solutions, so that normality can be restored in the area to ensure safety of the commuters.
