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Cape Town taxi violence — city and industry at odds after taxi body claims drivers targeted

Cape Town taxi violence — city and industry at odds after taxi body claims drivers targeted
Suné Payne
By Suné Payne
5 Mar 2025
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At the next meeting of the Minibus Taxi Task Team in the Western Cape, a big issue is likely to be the sometimes violent altercations between taxi drivers and law enforcement officials.

Relations between the taxi industry and the City of Cape Town have again become strained after violence between city traffic officers and taxi drivers, leading to the filing of criminal charges and appeals for the rule of law.

On Tuesday, 4 March 2025, soon after videos went viral of how Cape Town traffic officers violently subdued a taxi driver, unverified information that the driver had been killed began to spread. The driver survived after falling unconscious when traffic officers put him in a chokehold. 

In response, a protest erupted at a key city taxi rank, leaving commuters stranded for hours in scenes reminiscent of the August 2023 taxi strike, which lasted just under two weeks. 

JP Smith, the City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security, told Daily Maverick that “this entire saga started when someone wilfully broke [the] law by driving on the shoulder of the road”.

Smith said “others then saw fit to use intimidation and bullying tactics to avoid accountability for this incident, and then later brazenly attacked officers who were trying to execute their duties and stopping another taxi driver who also drove on the shoulder of the road – a clear violation of the National Road Traffic Act”.

What happened? 


There are differing versions of events. On Tuesday, just before 7am, city traffic officers apprehended a taxi driver who allegedly fled after he had been pulled over for driving on the shoulder of the road on the N2 in the inbound lane near Langa.

Smith said on Tuesday, “We have since learnt that he has an outstanding warrant of just under R3,000. The driver’s actions put his passengers and other road users at risk, but this was aggravated by the fact that he resisted arrest after traffic officers stopped his vehicle, placing himself and the officers in danger.”

This was disputed by representatives from the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco). A statement issued by Santaco Western Cape said, “The driver subsequently lost consciousness due to strangulation, to the shock of passengers who had alighted from his vehicle.

“Whilst everyone must respect the rule of law, including minibus taxi drivers and operators, law enforcement officers have to exercise restraint and guard against using excessive force when effecting arrest and/or issuing fines.” 

They said they were disappointed with Smith’s initial response, which was published on his Facebook account.

Santaco said Smith “seems to condone the way this driver was handled. He further falsely claims that this driver ran away when being stopped by the traffic officers. Available footage proves that there was no chase and that the driver stopped his vehicle and went to the traffic officers, and can be seen leaning against the officer’s vehicle.”

Smith told Daily Maverick: “Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act outlines the parameters around use of force. That said, it is one thing to focus on the manner in which the suspect was apprehended, when the focus should actually be on the fact that he tried to run away in the first place.

“This is all too commonplace, where officers pull over taxi drivers for transgressions and they either resist arrest or try to evade capture. It cannot be that individuals break the law with abandon, and when they are called to account, they try to run away, or even brazenly attack officers of the law who are simply doing their job.”

Once word had spread of the incident, it sparked protests by a large group of taxi drivers at the Cape Town Station Deck, as reported by News24. 

In another incident on Tuesday afternoon, also documented on social media videos, two officers were filmed trying to wrestle a taxi driver to the ground. 

That driver was in the process of being pulled out of his minibus taxi along the N2. According to reports, an officer had been bitten.

Smith told Daily Maverick “the incident on the N2 was absolutely chaotic”.

Several charges were being pursued in the second case, which included assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, obstruction, defeating the ends of justice and public violence.

Smith said, “The footage from the officers’ dash and body cams will also be made available to investigators, and so more charges may stem from that.” 

According to the City of Cape Town, in the last week of February, traffic officers impounded 308 public transport vehicles. In the previous week, leading up to 23 February, traffic officials impounded 319 vehicles.

‘Victimisation’ vs ‘law enforcement’ 


Tensions between the city and the taxi industry have been tumultuous in recent years, particularly during the August 2023 taxi strike, when the industry accused the city of irregularly impounding vehicles while the city said it was enforcing regulations.

Santaco said after both incidents on Tuesday, “Taxi drivers, like all citizens, have the right to be treated with dignity and respect. Santaco Western Cape remains committed to fostering compliance and safe driving within the industry.” 

“However, the ongoing victimisation of our drivers severely undermines efforts to build cooperation between the taxi sector and government… We urge our members to remain calm and obey all laws, while we pursue this matter through the appropriate channels.” 

The taxi body called on the city to take “immediate” action against officers involved in the incidents and “to ensure that law enforcement operates within the bounds of the law”.

Smith told Daily Maverick the city’s Safety and Security Investigation Unit was “working closely” with police to find those involved in Tuesday’s events. 

Daily Maverick asked the City of Cape Town’s Rob Quintas, the mayoral committee member for mobility, about the situation and if this would be brought up at the next meeting of the Minibus Taxi Task Team, a platform for the Santaco, the city and the Western Cape Mobility Department to come together to try to solve some of the issues besetting the industry.

Quintas said, “We want to keep on fostering good relations with our valued partners in the minibus taxi industry, and we appreciate the calm of the past few months.” 

He said the investigation into the incident was under way and, “If there has been wrongdoing either way, this must be addressed.” 

While the agenda of the task team was confidential, which Quintas indicated was at the request of the three stakeholders, he said: “Safe to say, matters of concern are addressed at these meetings.”

Western Cape MEC for Mobility Isaac Sileku confirmed to Daily Maverick that the next meeting was to take place on 20 March. DM

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