The shooting in which three taxi bosses were killed in Mabopane yesterday could signal a period of increased violence in the taxi industry.
The taxi industry was particularly hard hit by the Covid-19 regulations that saw a significant drop in income due to a drop in passenger numbers and limited operating hours.
As the economy re-opens taxi bosses will seek to reclaim losses suffered during the lockdown. One way to do this is to eliminate the competition to gain larger market share.
It is no secret that the South African taxi industry operates according to its own rules and that government struggles to keep them within the confines of the transport legal framework.
I call on the Gauteng MEC for Transport, Jacob Mamabolo, to urgently interact with the province’s taxi associations to chart a way forward that will prevent further violence.