Pretoria - The recent assassination of troubled Atteridgeville Saulsville Taxi Owners Association’s chairperson Frank Moremi has thrust into the spotlight the long-standing infighting at the organisation.
Moremi was gunned down last Friday inside his office at Mphalane Taxi Rank in Atteridgeville.
His untimely death occurred almost three weeks after new SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) president Abner Tsebe condemned the killings in the industry.
At the time, he called for rivals to stop resorting to violence to resolve disputes over taxi routes.
Police said the motive for the shooting was being investigated and no arrests had been made.
The association had for a long time been grappling with taxi violence. In 2020, tension at the local association resulted in at least four people being killed in the space of two months.
At the time, the late Moremi defended the organisation, saying its members were not complicit in the killings.
“There is a certain group of people who have turned Atteridgeville into a war zone; they are not our members, we are not complicit in this spate of violence,” Moremi said, adding that discussions were taking place with stakeholders and the SAPS concerning the violence.
At the height of the 2020 tensions, Gauteng MEC for Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure, Jacob Mamabolo, came out to say the reported deaths were linked to the ongoing infighting at the association.
He promised to join hands with the SAPS, metro police, and all law enforcement agencies to fight against taxi violence.
Santaco in Tshwane has previously accused the SAPS of not treating taxi killings with the necessary urgency.
This week, the City of Tshwane MMC for Roads and Transport, Dikeledi Selowa, condemned Moremi’s killing, saying: “His passing was a great loss to his family and the taxi industry, as well as the public transport fraternity and the community at large.”
Selowa described the deceased as one of the most hard-working and dedicated leaders in the local taxi industry.
“He was instrumental in ensuring conflict-free taxi operations at the association and the Greater Tshwane Regional Taxi Council,” she said.
She implored law enforcement agencies to bring the perpetrators to book.
Pretoria News