Hands Off Eastern Cape: Taxi Industry Praised for Taking a Stand Against Looting
- Gqeberha's taxi industry is grabbing the headlines for the right reasons after drawing praise from social justice advocate and journalist Yusuf Abramjee
- The operators have vowed to take a firm stand against looting in the city and the Eastern Cape province at large
- In a video shared by Abramjee on social media, a voice is heard declaring that the taxi industry is ready for any would-be looters who might want to chance it
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Taxi associations in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape have drawn praise from social justice advocate and journalist Yusuf Abramjee.
The public transport associations in the province have vowed to fight against any potential looting as the province works to deflect the scenes that have played out in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Source: UGC
Abramjee posted a video showing a fleet of taxis parked off the edge of a main road in the Gqeberha suburb of Kariega (formerly Uitenhage). Accompanying the media was a caption that read:
"Well done on the taxi for taking a stand against looting."
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The comments come in the wake of looming threats of civil unrest in the province, which has seen premier Oscar Mabuyane put out a call that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) be on alert in the province.
Apparent messages, of which Mabuye is a witness, from people trying to mobilise residents and orchestrate incidents of violence have reportedly been circulating.
Mabuyane noted that he was extremely concerned about the looting and riots playing out elsewhere, leading to a similar response from ordinary citizens and taxi operators.
In the 30-second video, which has been seen more than 46 000 times, a voice is heard pronouncing:
"The taxi industry is out, comrades are out, we are ready. We are going to KwaNobuhle [a large township on the outskirts of Kariega] ... to pass the message.
"Our message is clear: there shall be no looting happening in Uitenhage ... You loot, we deal with you, don't ask me how."
Shutdown videos doing the rounds on social media in Mzansi are misleading
Recently, Briefly News reported that several videos doing the rounds on social media amid rolling unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal have been deemed false and misleading by Africa Check.
The non-profit organisation, whose work is to promote accuracy in public debate and the media in Africa, has identified at least three such videos and a voice note that are factually inaccurate.
Social media has been flooded with videos claiming to depict the protests as Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal reel from days of widespread looting and public violence.
Many of the videos are accurate, showing legitimate news footage and events captured by the public. However, Africa Check identified others that are being shared without verification.
The organisation has warned that this has the potential to further stoke unrest and make the job of quelling the upheaval harder for law enforcement.
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Source: Briefly News
