WATCH: Criminal infiltration alleged in South Africa’s taxi industry

Motlhabane Tsebe, president of the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), stated that the taxi industry is currently being targeted by criminal groups.

On Tuesday in Johannesburg, Tsebe and other Santaco leaders addressed the media regarding the recent killing of an e-hailing driver at Maponya Mall last week.

Santaco condemns killing of Uber driver

Four unidentified men are believed to be responsible for the killing of the 27-year-old e-hailing driver and the burning of his vehicle.

Two additional individuals sustained injuries during the incident.

While the taxi industry has often been blamed for such violence, Tsebe insists that criminal elements are the true culprits.

“We must acknowledge the criminal acts being carried out in our name.”

The community must pray for the taxi sector

“We respectfully ask the community for their prayers as we confront the infiltration of criminals while working to clean up the taxi industry.”

“The law enforcement authorities must take strong action against these criminals, just as they do in other sectors.”

Just as there are bogus doctors, fake pastors, counterfeit police officers, dishonest lawyers, and financial scammers, there are also criminals within the taxi industry who terrorize the community — and they must be dealt with decisively,” Tsebe said.

Tsebe added that the current public outrage against the taxi industry comes at a time when they were preparing to pilot a cashless payment system for taxi rides.

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