Taxi driver dispute suspected as motive for Camps Bay shooting, fuelling fears of a deadly transport war

A dispute between Cape Town taxi drivers may have been behind the shooting in Camps Bay on Wednesday that left two people dead, said Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) spokesperson Nkululeko Sityebi.  

Two deaths were confirmed by the South African Police Service, but according to Sityebi, a third person is in critical condition in hospital.  

“It was two drivers,” he said. “The other was rushed to the hospital and there is a long-standing issue about the Cape Town route which we believe might have led to the shooting.” 

Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi could not confirm that three people had been shot. However, he said: “The possibility that the motive is taxi-related cannot be excluded and will be investigated.” 

Peter Fletov, chair of the Green Point Neighbourhood Watch, said the information he had obtained indicated that the shooting stemmed from a pirate taxi from the Cata taxi association operating on the Camps Bay-Hout Bay route.  

“Drivers from a rival taxi association had complained to authorities earlier in the day about the illegal operator. At around 15:30 in the afternoon, two shooters arrived in a white Toyota Tazz and fired 11 rounds at the taxi driver on Victoria Road, next to the beach. The driver was hit multiple times.”