The collective taxi strike, which has turned violent in South Africa’s largest city and resulted in three reported deaths, has paralyzed the port and tourist destination of Cape Town for several days, the police revealed on Monday.
Following a labor stoppage on Thursday, minibus drivers—the primary mode of transportation for millions of working-class South Africans—left thousands of commuters stranded.
“One person was shot and three others injured” on Monday while throwing stones at a driver, according to the police, who were on the way to the airport.
A second body, that of a 28-year-old man who had died from multiple gunshot wounds in an attack “presumed to be linked to taxis,” was later discovered, according to the authorities.
A police officer was killed by gunfire on Friday night while on duty around 20 kilometers outside of Cape Town.
Since police were “patrolling (…) to contain incidents linked” to the strike, they added that “we cannot rule out the possibility that this attack was linked to the ongoing taxi strike.”
On Monday afternoon, the airport road was finally cleared after being repeatedly disrupted and jammed the previous night.
Last weekend, the British Embassy in South Africa advised people to postpone their trips “to and from the airport until the route has been cleared” on Facebook.
Patricia de Lille, the minister of tourism, stated to AFP on Monday that she was speaking with the premier of Cape Town Province about the taxi strike “in light of the note sent by the British authorities” in an effort to quickly resolve it.
Last week, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) organized a walkout in opposition to a new law allowing the mayor of Cape Town to seize vehicles for infractions like overloading, driving without a license, and failing to display number plates.
After 15 minibuses were taken on Tuesday, the situation worsened.
In response to the 6,000 vehicles that had been confiscated since the year’s beginning, Santaco stated on Monday that it had “no other option” but to launch a strike.The behaviors we have seen over the past few days have obviously involved some level of premeditation.
The city’s workers and infrastructure have also been clearly targeted, the municipal authorities said in their statement.
“It is obvious that the activities we have seen in recent days were somewhat planned out. Additionally, there have been obvious attempts to attack city employees and infrastructure, the local authorities said in a statement on Monday.
Private automobiles have been the target of stone-throwing and shooting, a number of buses and municipal vehicles have been set on fire, and clinics have been forced to close or restrict their capacity due to the mayhem.
The police reported that stores had been plundered and that they had arrested five suspected criminals. After negotiations with Santaco over the weekend ended in failure, it was stated that the work stoppage would last until Wednesday.