The man alleged to have murdered a Cape Town taxi boss appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court.
Charmaine Bailey, 56, was gunned down in broad daylight at her Wynberg office after concluding a meeting with taxi drivers in the area in May.
Bailey was the chairperson of the Wynberg/Hout Bay Taxi Association and spokesperson for the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Cata).
Ongoing taxi violence has been rampant in the Western Cape.
MEC for mobility in the Western Cape, Ricardo Mackenzie welcomed the arrest of the suspect in Hout Bay on July 1.
“I am grateful for this breakthrough and progress made by the SAPS in the investigation. We will monitor this case and continue to follow up with the SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) until there is a successful conviction,” Mackenzie said.
“Only successful convictions will stop or significantly reduce violent incidents in the minibus taxi industry. I recently met with the provincial leadership of the SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and established a Joint Task Team to deal with minibus taxi-related violence,” he said.
“The focus of the task team will be to go after the hitmen, but also the paymasters who fund and order the murders and other crimes impacting the minibus taxi industry, such as extortion and other elements of organised crime.”
He said his department will be fully supporting law enforcement in whichever way possible to bring the perpetrators of minibus taxi-related crime to book.
Western Cape spokesperson for the NPA, Eric Ntabazalila confirmed a 32-year-old man appeared in court and has been officially charged with murder.
“He is charged with the murder of Charmaine Bailey, illegal possession of a firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition,” Ntabazalila said.