Cele sends top team to end taxi killings

● Police minister wants report on Port St Johns mayhem in five days and says ‘those who need to be arrested, must be arrested soon’

Police minister Bheki Cele has appointed two high-ranking officials to form a team to investigate taxi violence in Port St Johns amid allegations that government officials and police were themselves involved in the taxi industry, while Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane has appealed to the president to deploy the military.

The taxi war, which has claimed six lives in recent weeks, has reached the ears of the national government, with Cele and transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga joining Mabuyane on a visit to the Wild Coast town yesterday in a bid to quell the feud between rival taxi association members.

Violence broke out between the Lusikisiki branch of the Uncedo Service Taxi Association (Uncedo) and the Port St Johns branch of the Border Alliance Taxi Association (Bata) over control of the R61 route between the two towns, with the Mthambalala village being the focal point of the dispute on January 10, with three people — a Bata taxi owner, his driver and conductor — shot dead.

A second attack at the Bata taxi rank in Port St Johns on January 16 saw three Uncedo security guards killed and six more, including an 11-year-old boy, wounded.

Port St Johns community members marched to the local police station on Friday last week to demand that Cele urgently intervene to end the taxi violence.

At a meeting at the Luxoloweni Hall in Port St Johns yesterday, Cele announced that deputy national police commissioner for crime detection Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya and National Prosecution Authority Eastern Cape head advocate Barry Madolo would together establish a multi-discipline team of investigators.

“The two men, head of prosecutions in the Eastern Cape and our deputy national police commissioner, will give us — the premier and us ministers — a fully fledged report within five working days,” Cele said. “People who need to be arrested, must be arrested soon.”

Cele said the investigators should also probe why the 11 people who had been arrested were released without appearing in court due to insufficient evidence.

“The team of investigators must dig deeper ...

“We are committing to uprooting the taxi violence here,” Cele said.

He also raked in the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) to probe the three security companies with people involved in the bloodbath.

He said the investigators would also look into a series of unsolved murder cases.

The long list of more than 20 people killed since 2022 included the murders of two police officers.

Community members told Cele they believed members of the public order policing unit in Lusikisiki were taxi owners themselves and took sides in the violence.

“National and provincial commissioners should have a thorough investigation on the allegations and those members found to be doubling as taxi bosses should be released from the service,” Cele said.

Chikunga, Cele and Mabuyane said civil servants were not allowed to be involved in the taxi industry.

“If there are government officials in the taxi industry, they should be investigated and we will act on them decisively.

“We must not only check police officers, but also prosecutors, magistrates, councillors and mayors who are taxi owners,” Cele said.

He said further that the police secretariat would soon visit Port St Johns to investigate issues related to policing and infrastructure.

Community leaders including traditional leaders and members of the business forum, Sanco, Port St Johns Development Forum, Sajoni Woods Forum and council of churches all complained that the local police were failing them.

They called for a change of the station commissioners and other junior members.

“There is no need to call for a change of the station commissioner because the one who was there has already left. There will be a new one,” Cele said to applause.

Mabuyane said residents should not get directly involved in the issues or fuel the violence.

“We should be mediators and not fuel the fight as residents,” he said.

He said taxi violence was disrupting the economy in Port St Johns and denting tourism, which he said was the backbone of the area’s economy.

“I have already written a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa to have military deployed in Port St Johns, and I have also discussed this with minister Cele and justice minister Ronald Lamola,” Mabuyane said.

Cele said many leaders, including Mabuyane, mayor Nomvuzo Mlombile-Cingo and the business chamber’s Mbongeni Kotana, had appealed for his intervention.

Chikunga warned taxis not to operate on routes they were not entitled to and said they would be dealt with decisively.

“Their vehicles will be impounded, they will lose their licences and affected taxi ranks will be closed,” Chikunga said.

Community members told Cele they believed members of the public order policing unit in Lusikisiki were taxi owners themselves and took sides in the violence