At least five people have reportedly died in brutal protests not unrelated to a taxi strike in Cape Town, South Africa, according to the police.
The deceased include a 40-year-old British citizen and a police officer.
The 7-day strike was announced by the South African National Taxi Council as a form of retaliation to what drivers have tagged “heavy-handed tactics” by the law enforcement agents.
The taxi drivers and their owners have alleged that their vehicles were being singled out and impounded for inconsequential offences.
These minor infringements had included: not wearing a seatbelt and unlawfully driving in the emergency lane.
The drivers had claimed that the others doing the same only got fines.
Additionally, minibus taxi operators across Cape Town had also shared their frustrations, commenting that the authorities kept impounding taxis that were reportedly not roadworthy.
Earlier today however, South Africa’s transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga called for the quick release of the minibus taxis impounded by the City of Cape Town on the grounds that it was implemented wrongly and that there were no such laws for minibus impoundment.
Meanwhile, the South African Ministry of Police has disclosed that at least 120 people had been apprehended since the strikes commenced on 3 August.
Police authorities had reported that the residents in the Masiphumelele township had constructed barricades, barring the other residents from leaving.
A lot of these barricades had been set on fire.
Police Minister Bheki Cele who spoke to newsmen today had called for an alliance between the Cape Town government and taxi drivers.
The UK has however, issued a travel warning to its nationals after the strike was listed as a high security threat for tourists coming to South Africa.
