‘It stops here’ — Soweto residents blast taxi industry after murder of e-hailing driver

After a deadly shooting at Maponya Mall this week, e-hailing drivers have accused the taxi industry of acting as gatekeepers. They say that the government has failed to find a lasting solution to the violent disputes in Soweto that put drivers, passengers and the public at risk.

One person was shot dead and two others – another e-hailing driver and a passerby – were injured on Wednesday, 13 August. The SA Police Service has confirmed it was investigating several cases, including murder.

The SAPS said four men had approached a vehicle that had stopped at the entrance of the mall. They shot at the driver and then set his vehicle alight while he was still inside.

Shots were also fired at a second vehicle nearby. The driver was wounded, but managed to flee before his vehicle was set alight. A passerby was also shot. 

Police say they are searching for unknown suspects, but the violence is believed to be linked to ongoing disputes between the local taxi industry and e-hailing drivers, with the taxi industry accused of largely controlling access to the mall. 

Gauteng Transport MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela was quick to visit the scene and condemn the violence as “senseless, unacceptable, and a direct threat to the safety and stability of our public transport system”.

Spiralling violence

Daily Maverick established that the victim, Siyanda Mthokozisi Mvelase (27), had been working as an e-hailing driver for only two days before he was shot.

Soweto residents and e-hailing drivers protested against the taxi industry on Thursday. 

A minibus taxi was set alight in Pimville, which is close to the mall. Details on the incident remain unclear, and authorities have not yet confirmed if it was linked to Wednesday’s violence.

“A taxi was torched by unknown suspects at Pimville. No injuries [were] reported and a case of malicious damage to property is opened for further investigations,” said Gauteng SAPS spokesperson Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi.

The mall remained closed on Thursday afternoon after residents blocked the road with stones, bricks and other debris to prevent minibus taxis from entering the taxi rank.

Mandla Mpungose, a 51-year-old Pimville resident, said: “We need to act against these drivers as a community and show them that they can intimidate and abuse us when we ride in their taxis, but they cannot do as they please in our community. They cannot mess with the community.

“We are tired of being bullied by taxi drivers who care only about themselves and making money out of us. We are saying as a community, it stops here,” he said.

Lindiwe Nzuza, a 31-year-old Soweto resident, said, “These taxi drivers must be taught a lesson. They do not run our lives. Today, we will show them that we are not scared of them. They have been abusing the community for years and it must come to an end now.” 

Protesting residents called for the taxi rank to be closed for a week, while others were visibly annoyed that their family members could not get to work on Thursday.

Ongoing feud

The feud between e-hailing drivers and the taxi industry has continued for years, with the police and the Gauteng Department of Transport failing to curb the violence. 

In June 2023, similar scenes played out at Maponya Mall, although no lives were lost at that time. Daily Maverick has established that no one has been arrested for the June 2023 attacks.

Read more: Police keep strong presence in Soweto after attacks on e-hailing drivers

In 2023, Diale-Tlabela promised stern action against the perpetrators and committed to allowing transport operators to operate freely. She also committed to finding a lasting solution to the conflict.

“These acts are unacceptable and must be dealt with harshly. We will not be deterred in building an integrated and modernised public transport system by individuals who use intimidation and violence to put their message across,” she said at the time. 

Soweto’s e-hailing and taxi sectors brokered a fragile ceasefire, which saw e-hailing drop-offs temporarily barred. This move was not a permanent solution, but a tactical retreat to cool tensions sparked by fierce competition for passengers and a regulatory vacuum. 

The taxi sector then reached an informal agreement with e-hailers to allow them to pick up passengers in the mall. 

The situation, however, has remained volatile and e-hailing drivers say they have been subject to the whims of the taxi industry, which they claim they had to pay to gain access to the mall. 

Leadership disputes

While visiting the area on Thursday, Diale-Tlabela addressed the media while angry Soweto residents blocked the entrance to Maponya Mall. She said discussions with the taxi and e-hailing sectors stalled due to disputes over who represented the e-hailing drivers.

“We had almost three hours of meeting. I’m sure all of you saw us, believing that we were meeting the leaders of the industry, both the taxi industry and the e-hailers,” Diale-Tlabela said.

“Unfortunately, post the meeting, we had to come and address the people outside.” She said the people outside, who were themselves e-hailers, disputed that the leadership she had been meeting represented them. This meant that they had to “go back to the drawing board”, the MEC said.

“The complaint that we got from management and [the] taxi industry was that from time to time, the e-hailing faces were not consistent, and they were failing to register progress on the things that they [had] agreed on. This was demonstrated by what has happened,” Diale-Tlabela said.

“It means we continue to sit with different sets of e-hailers and then we are unable to take action on whatever is agreed upon,” she said.

The MEC did not respond to questions about what attempts her department had made to mediate the dispute since 2023.

Violence may escalate

Speaking to Daily Maverick on Thursday afternoon, spokesperson for local e-hailers Vhatuka Mbelengwa said he believed police were serious about resolving the violence, but were overwhelmed.

He said the e-hailing sector had lodged “a lot of cases”, but police were “struggling because they cannot establish whether the taxi sector is responsible or if it’s just criminality”.

“As far as I know, from 2023, there have been no further developments … in all matters relating to the violence.

“We have seen a taxi being burnt today in Soweto, and we fear that this might escalate the situation.”

E-hailing drivers said that while there had been no reported incidents of violence in recent years, they had been paying exorbitant fees to the taxi industry to continue operations. 

Bolt senior operations manager Simo Kalajdzic told Daily Maverick last year that the service was “aware of the extortion of money that driver-partners experience in several cities where we operate”.

He condemned the actions of taxi industry members and said everyone had a right to earn a living and move around without fearing harm.

“It is important to note that Bolt does not compete with minibus taxis; public transport has multiple modes. Bolt is an essential component of multimodal transport, providing an important option for passengers,” Kalajdzic said.

Bolt and Uber did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Daily Maverick also requested comment from the Witwatersrand Taxi Association and the South African National Taxi Council, which operate taxis from Maponya Mall, but neither replied. DM