Tembisa Taxi Drivers Allegedly Shoot Community Members, South Africans Worried

• Chaos erupted in Tembisa in Ekurhuleni after members of the community protested a lack of water for three weeks
• As community members forcefully closed shops and blocked taxi ranks in protest, videos of taxi drivers allegedly shooting into the crowd went viral
• South Africans condemned the incident and were concerned at the rate of service delivery protests turning violent in the country

Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News’ Deputy Head of Current Affairs, contributed coverage of international and local social issues, including health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests, and immigration in South Africa, during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

TEMBISA, EKURHULENI — A community protest in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, on 11 September 2025 turned violent as taxi drivers allegedly fired shots at community members in the midst of the chaos.

Videos and images shared on social media show the extent of the unrest. According to MDN News, Ivory Park residents initiated a complete shutout to protest a three-week water outage and unfulfilled promises. Residents are reportedly demanding that the water be immediately restored.

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According to Voice of Tembisa FM, residents of Ebony Park have been protesting since 9 September. They took to the streets and alleged that they received water for two hours every day. Children have allegedly been sent home as early as 10 am due to the water shortage.

Taxi drivers allegedly shoot

The unrest turned violent after videos of tsxi drivers allegedly using live ammunition surfaced. In two of the videos, armed men are seen chasing members of the community and firing their guns at them.

Briefly News reached out to the South African Police Service. They did not respond when the story was published.

Recent service delivery protests

Residents of Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal embarked on a service delivery protest on 10 September after the municipality implemented load reduction allegedly without consulting the community. Furious community members torched the municipal offices. The province's MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Thulasizwe Buthelez, said he would visit the area on 12 September.

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Residents of a community in Potchefstroom in the North West embarked on a service delivery action on 16 June 20255. They accused the government of poor service delivery and not tackling unemployment in the area.

What did South Africans say?

South Africans, commenting on X, weighed in on the chaos and the unrest.

TakaSyo said:

"The thing with owning a firearm is that there are very strict rules, and breaking them may lead to your prosecution and possibly losing that firearm."

Lindeni Lebea said:

"We need them off our roads."

Vince asked:

"How is this different from apartheid?"

Ekurhuleni mayor addresses the protesting community

In another article, Briefly News reported that the Ekurhuleni mayor, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, addressed Tembisa residents after they protested against electricity tariffs on 21 July 2025. This was after the municipality announced tariff increases for the 2025/26 financial year.

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Residents blocked the roads and burned tyres to protest the high tariffs. Xhakaza promised them that the R126 fixed charge that residents paid in addition to the electricity they usually pay was suspended.

Source: Briefly News