[sustran] fwd: SA taxi war killings

[SUSTRAN Resource Centre]

BBC World News
Thursday, 27 July, 2000, 13:41 GMT 14:41 UK 
SA taxi war killings

By Greg Barrow in Cape Town 
A bus driver and a commuter have been shot dead in Cape Town. 

They are the latest victims of a campaign of violence against a private bus
company, Golden Arrow, which has been encroaching on routes traditionally
dominated by minibus taxi operators. 

Six people have now been killed and more than 60 injured in armed attacks
on Golden Arrow buses since March this year. 

The police in Cape Town have so far failed to make a single arrest and are
being criticised for failing to control the violence. 

Machine guns 

Groups of men armed with machine guns have been ambushing the buses as they
travel along routes through the townships in the early hours of the morning. 

The buses are sprayed indiscriminately with bullets. 

Golden Arrow is a registered company that receives a provincial government
subsidy to operate its buses. 

This has allowed the company to charge lower fares than the minibus taxi
operators, and attract more passengers. 

But they believe they are being targetted by the operators of illegal
minibus taxison the lucrative routes in townships around the city. 

Most South African commuters travel daily on the privately-owned minibus
taxis, which are each licensed to carry about 15 people. 

Resignation 

The taxi operators have been angry that Golden Arrow is able to undercut
their fares. 

And opposition politicians say the violence is continuing because some of
the illegal minibus taxi fleets are owned by senior police officers. 

The provincial minister for Community Safety, Mark Wiley resigned on
Wednesday citing failure by the national government to deal with rising
insecurity in Western Cape. 

The province, where Cape Town is situated, is the only opposition
stronghold in the whole of South Africa. 

Some observers say it is in the interest of the government to allow
violence to go unchecked there as this will undermine the credibility of
the opposition provincial administration. 

-----------------------

Distributed for the purpose of education and research.

A. Rahman Paul BARTER
SUSTRAN Resource Centre
Information services for the Sustainable Transport Action Network
for Asia and the Pacific (the SUSTRAN Network)
sustran at po.jaring.my,  http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran