The Western Cape minibus taxi industry has launched a peace ambassador programme after a spate of shootings that claimed the lives of several operators in the industry.
The South African National Taxi Council Santaco unveiled the initiative at the Bellville taxi rank on Monday. It follows the murders of Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association Cata deputy chairperson Mnikeli Mgope, who was shot while seated in his car at the Nyanga taxi rank, and former Cata spokesperson Andile Seyamo, shot dead at his Browns Farm home days later.
The killings came amid a flare-up in tensions between Cata and the Cape Organisation for a Democratic Taxi Association Codeta over control of the Somerset WestKhayelitsha route.