Tow truck drivers turf wars ‘violent’

Cape Town and Durban identified as most volatile

TOW truckers have appealed to the Department of Transport to intervene amidst fears that gangsters are being used to spark violence in an industry turf war, with Durban and Cape Town being identified as the most volatile.

On Thursday, the problem is expected to be highlighted at a national road incident management meeting in Durban.

The situation is so dire in Cape Town that drivers have been given details of senior city security staff to whom they can forward information about tow operators suspected of drug and gun smuggling. This is in an urgent bid to clamp down on incidents in the city.

Ettienne Pel, national chairman of the United Towing Association SA, plans to voice the concerns of industry insiders.

“The industry needs to be regulated and policed... However, with the high levels of corruption, I am not sure if that will ever take place,” he said.

Cape Town has been the scene of a long-running tow truck turf war, which has resulted in violence, including murders.

In one of the most recent incidents, apparently not reported to police due to fear of reprisals, Pel said a tower was followed and shot at three times in Stikland about two weeks ago. “Luckily he was not hit.” In another incident in June, tow truck driver Thomas Dias was murdered in Atlantis.

A tow truck was also vandalised and set alight in Stellenbosch.

Over several months our Cape Town correspondent spoke to a number of tow truck drivers who said the bigger companies were trying to edge out smaller ones through intimidation and violence.

The bigger firms were said to be vying for contracts with major insurance companies.

Tow truck drivers all mentioned the names of three alleged gang kingpins who they suspected were pulling the strings in the industry.

While provincial police did not respond to a query about security involving the towing industry, The Independent On Saturday understands the alleged kingpins and links between violent incidents are being investigated.

Volatile

Two weeks ago, because of the escalating violence, Pel wrote to national Transport Minister, Dipuo Peters’s office.

In his e-mail he said the most volatile towing areas were Cape Town and Durban.

“It has, over the past few months, become a territorial war over who operates where,” Pel said.

“The allegations are that many have had to resort to using gangsters to either protect themselves and/or their companies, and/or use the gangsters to threaten and intimidate others.”

He said claims had also surfaced that tow truckers were transporting illicit goods.

“There are also many allegations that drugs are being used and distributed via this same network, illegal ammunition and firearms, etc.

“Tow operators who are doing their utmost best to adhere to the laws of South Africa are too afraid to speak out, and have approached me to take this matter to the highest authority available.”

Pel said some gangsters had threatened motorists involved in accidents to only use a particular tow truck company.

“To add fuel to the fire, there are continuous allegations of corruption between tow operators and law enforcement officers across the board, from SAPS, to metro police, to traffic officials,” he wrote.

The Department of Transport did not respond to these latest issues.

But in an earlier response to Pel from a chief director in the Department of Transport, he said regulation specifications regarding the towing industry were in the process of being finalised. The chief director said there was nothing the department could do about violence in the industry.

This week, Cape Town safety and security mayoral committee member, JP Smith, said he previously met tow truck industry representatives.

He said action would be taken against city staff who worked illegally with towers, but in order to follow up on allegations, details including relevant vehicle registration numbers were needed.

Involvement

“We supplied contact details so that people could forward details of tow trucks and owners allegedly involved in drug dealing or trading in illegal firearms,” Smith said.

He said legislation on the regulation of tow trucks was needed.

“National government should be writing such legislation, but in the absence of them doing so, we asked the MEC for transport to meet with the industry and for the Western Cape government to draft such legislation, which I understand they are currently considering.”