Cape Town taxi operators clashed with City of Cape Town traffic officials and other law enforcement officers on Tuesday afternoon, leaving thousands of commuters stranded for hours.

The SA Police Service’s Public Order Policing (POP) unit had to be called in to assist City of Cape Town traffic officials in the standoff, which led to the firing of rubber bullets and stun grenades.

Peak-hour traffic is halted in Cape Town during a clash between taxi operators and law enforcement officials on Tuesday, 1 August 2023. (Photo: Gallo Images / ER Lombard)

According to city mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith, traffic officers conducted operations in the CBD, which resulted in 15 taxis being impounded.

“Taxi drivers assembled on the rank and assaulted one of the traffic officers,” Smith said.

“The scene grew tense as several taxis took to blockading the exit route in the rank. In the stand-off, SAPS Public Order Policing [members were] deployed to the scene and pleaded for the return of order.”

Smith said that taxis trying to enter the rank for the afternoon peak period were prevented from entering by fellow drivers and this caused widespread congestion.

“A group of opportunistic drivers intent on causing chaos attempted to incite the crowds and numerous drivers left their vehicles on the road, causing a gridlock and adding to the frustration.”

Frustrated commuters had to wait for hours as no taxis were going in or out of the rank because of the stand-off. Several drivers were arrested. 

‘Live ammunition fired’

The City of Cape Town accused the taxi operators of firing live ammunition at the officials, but did not say whether this caused any injuries.

Tensions between the City of Cape Town and taxi operators have been simmering over a new by-law that gives power to the municipality to impound vehicles rather than fining drivers for offences such as not displaying registration plates, being unlicensed, overloading and the failure to stop when instructed to do so by an officer.

The city was tense as several taxis were impounded on Tuesday, 1 August 2023, with motorists experiencing gridlock. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)

Under the National Road Traffic Act, licensed drivers who aren’t carrying their licences are simply issued a fine and allowed to continue driving. However, under the traffic by-law, the city will still issue unlicensed drivers with a fine — but will also impound the vehicle.

Taxi operator Lulamile Nkumanda told Daily Maverick they had not used live ammunition on Tuesday and were protesting against “harsh by-laws”. 

“We were there to express our feelings regarding them interfering with the way we operate,” he said.

“It is now clear to us that they’re against this black-owned business by enforcing harsher laws and holding traffic stops right in front of the taxi rank.”

He said the taxi industry accepted that officers would check drivers’ licences, operating permits and whether taxis were overloaded, but the issues began when taxis were scanned to check for active fines and drivers were issued with warrants during rush hour.

“We refused to bring in our vehicles as we did not want to cause any havoc and also minimise the chance of a traffic jam. We were later called to resume operations, but upon arrival, we were boxed in and arrested. We were also fired [on] with tear gas and rubber bullets, which caused a stir.”

Commuter Nozuko Bangani said their lives were put at risk by the officials and the operators.

“These law enforcement officers will not be in Nyanga, Khayelitsha and Philippi where we will face possible rape and robberies because we will arrive at home late. No one cares about us and we cannot even fight this, we just have to endure it. It is unfair.” 

Nceba Enge, South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) spokesperson in the Western Cape, said he wouldn’t comment before a meeting with the city on Thursday. The meeting is expected to resolve whether the taxi industry holds a stayaway to protest against the by-laws.

Enge did, however, confirm that taxis would continue operating on Wednesday.

Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for urban mobility, Rob Quintas, said the city noted Santaco’s possible stayaway later this week or early next week. He urged industry members to refrain from violence, attacks on other public transport operators, intimidation and traffic disruptions.

“We know from hard-learned experience that strike action is often marked by intimidation of non-striking public transport operators, threats, violence and destruction of public and private property. We respect the right to peaceful protest and strike action; however, I want to make it very clear that the city will not tolerate any thuggish behaviour.”

Quintas promised to hold Santaco accountable for any losses and damages.

Santaco withdraws from task team

Santaco has resolved to suspend its participation in the Minibus Taxi Task Team, citing two reasons: the “increase and continuous impoundments of vehicles” and “lack of progress on issues tabled”.

The task team — comprising representatives from the Western Cape government (WCG) and the City of Cape Town, with taxi industry leadership — was set up to find common ground between the parties. 

“The city and the WCG sent a joint letter to Santaco with proposals to address some of their concerns, among which [are] the impoundment of vehicles that are operating illegally, without operating licences or contrary to their licence conditions,” Quintas said.

“I urge Santaco to return to the negotiations so that we can resolve these issues in a peaceful manner, in the interest of all operators, the industry in general, those employed by the industry, and most importantly, the thousands of commuters who rely on minibus-taxis to get to and from work.” DM

Update on Wednesday at 9am: The situation was calm, with minibus taxis operating as usual and no reported incidents. A number of traffic officers, law enforcement and Public Order Police were keeping an eye on the roads.