Cape Town Taxi Violence: SANTACO Says Situation Is Out of Its Hands

• SANTACO Western Cape spokesperson Makhosandile Tumana admitted the organisation was struggling to contain escalating taxi violence in Cape Town
• Three people died and one was wounded in recent shootings in Khayelitsha and Gugulethu linked to rival taxi association tensions
• Law enforcement officers were deployed to taxi ranks, though questions arose about whether the presence was reaching actual shooting locations

WESTERN CAPE — The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) in the Western Cape has conceded that it is unable to guarantee the safety of commuters as deadly violence between rival taxi associations continues to destabilise parts of Cape Town.

SANTACO Western Cape spokesperson Makhosandile Tumana made the admission during an interview with Africa Melane on 702 and CapeTalk, saying the conflict had moved beyond the organisation's capacity to manage.

"We don't want to lie currently. This thing is out of our hands," Tumana told Melane.

Cape Town taxi shootings leave 3 dead

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The most recent attacks occurred in Khayelitsha and Gugulethu, where two separate shooting incidents left three people dead and one person injured. The violence is rooted in ongoing tensions between the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (CATA) and the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (CODETA).

Tumana confirmed that SANTACO had called on those involved to exercise restraint but stopped short of offering any assurances to the thousands of commuters who rely on minibus taxis daily.

"We don't want to promise anything, to say there's nothing that can happen because this thing is not in our control," he said.

The spokesperson urged all parties to step back from the conflict ahead of a planned meeting between the taxi industry and government, scheduled for Thursday, 29 October 2026.

"We are appealing to our fellow brothers to remain calm so that we can meet tomorrow with government," Tumana said.

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Police presence questioned as shootings continue

Law enforcement officers have since been deployed to taxi ranks across the affected areas in response to the shootings. However, Melane challenged the effectiveness of this approach, noting that reported incidents were taking place away from the ranks themselves.

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"That seems to be having very limited impact on stemming the violence because the incidents, according to the police report, are taking place outside of those ranks," Melane said during the interview.

Tumana welcomed the deployment but acknowledged that broader coverage was needed across all trouble spots.

"We are happy that the law enforcement agencies are there to monitor the situation," he said.

He added that SANTACO hoped police visibility would extend to all identified hotspots.

Thursday's scheduled government and taxi industry meeting is expected to serve as a critical forum for addressing the underlying tensions driving the conflict.

Expert calls for a special unit to deal with taxi violence

Previously, Dr Tinyiku Ngoveni, the University of South Africa’s Chair of the School of Criminal Justice, told Briefly News that the South African Police Service (SAPS) must pick up its socks in dealing with taxi violence. He called for the establishment of a specialised unit within the SAPS to solve taxi-related violence. This came days after a taxi driver was fatally shot on the Golden Highway in Evaton, south of Johannesburg, on 5 March 2026. A white Polo approached the taxi while he was driving, and an unknown number of assailants opened fire, killing the taxi driver. Ngoveni said that the killing was not surprising and remarked that it would not end soon.

Source: Briefly News