Image: /Esa Alexander
There is a quintessential South African belief that the taxi industry is above the law.
This is based on the realistic perception that operators in that industry do not think twice about unleashing violence on those they deem to be standing in their way.
It is also based on what appears to be at the very least, a level of apprehension or at best, an incapacity by law enforcement to deal with taxi operators who break the law.
It is from this ever-existing enthusiasm for violence coupled with limited or no accountability that taxi operators derive their perceived and undue power in our society.
It is against this background that we must understand the mayhem unfolding in the streets of Cape Town.
At the time of writing, at least two people had been murdered and many others injured or intimidated by thugs terrorising motorists and their passengers in the wake of the taxi strike.
Since last week, the protest action by operators over the impounding of their vehicles by city officials has brought one of SA’s busiest metropolis to a standstill.
Equally important, it has disrupted the city’s commuter population, forcing people to walk lengthy distances to and from work, at great risk to their safety.
Busses have been torched and other forms of transport threatened as the taxi industry strengthened its grip on the city’s transportation machinery.
But yesterday they raised the stakes, pulling people off their cars, stoning others, injuring young and old alike.
The mother body of taxi associations, Santaco, has distanced itself from the violence.
But it is not difficult nor unreasonable to understand that, although crime opportunists may have taken advantage of the situation to cause further anarchy, this violence must be put firmly at the door of taxi operators.
Like anyone who commits a crime, their brutality must be stopped and perpetrators, including those directing this lawlessness, must be jailed.
No part of this country should ever be held ransom by individuals or groupings terrorising innocent civilians for their own ends.
Grievances by taxi operators against Cape authorities can never justify the kind of savagery they have meted out to people trying to get by their daily business.
The state, at all levels, must step up to protect civilians against any and all forms of threat to human life and livelihood.