Bheki Cele intervenes in KZN south coast taxi violence
Police Minister Bheki Cele met with members of the taxi industry on KwaZulu-Natal’s south coast on Thursday. He was there to address violence in the sector among other issues.
This includes taxi violence, which has plagued the province for years and resulted in the loss of many lives.
The meeting with the top brass of the taxi industry took place in the Ugu and Harry Gwala districts.
The minister said the amount of people killed in the districts between January and July, has more than tripled, in comparison to the same period last year. He says intervention is necessary because violence in
the area is reaching “crisis proportions”.
[TAXI VIOLENCE] Minister Cele says #Taxiviolence in the Ugu and Harry Gwala Districts in the South of KwaZulu Natal be tackled before reaching crisis proportions. pic.twitter.com/EfNFBPoMNo
— Lirandzu Themba (@LirandzuThemba) July 14, 2022
The police took no chances. Officers were armed with rifles to secure the area.
Taxi bosses were also kept secure. They were escorted by private security and their own personal bodyguards
STATE FORCES SHOULD ROOT OUT CORRUPTION TOGETHER
Cele said the different organs of state should join forces to root out corruption in the taxi industry.
There are 18 taxi associations in the Ugu District, and they contribute around R14 million to taxi fee collections a year.
But the money could not be accounted for, over a few years.
Cele said he thinks the money is being used for criminal acts such as hiring hitmen and bribing police.
He said this could all come to an end if government departments take a stand: “We need to put a competent team from different arms of government, where there is money that is uncountable for.”
He said he has spoken to some ministers with regards to the problem: “Can we take this direction, so that the South African Revenue Service and Special Investigating Unit become part of it so that someone can be able to explain the wealth that comes out here because you can there is a lot of dirty wealth.”
Twenty-four have been killed in taxi-related violence in this district so far, this year.
-EWN
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