{"id":52396,"date":"2023-08-07T22:09:58","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T22:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/taxi-drivers-chase-school-children-in-day-of-violence-in-cape-town"},"modified":"2023-08-07T23:39:04","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T23:39:04","slug":"taxi-drivers-chase-school-children-in-day-of-violence-in-cape-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/taxi-drivers-chase-school-children-in-day-of-violence-in-cape-town","title":{"rendered":"Taxi drivers chase school children in day of violence in Cape Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Criminals have taken advantage of the taxi shutdown by hijacking vehicles, looting shops and burning infrastructure. One of our reporters also witnessed taxi drivers directly taking part in the violence that enveloped parts of Cape Town on Monday, GroundUp reported.<\/p>\n

The situation is especially volatile in Philippi, where there was a standoff between police and stone throwers. Now and then police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd but people kept coming back and burning tyres on the road.<\/p>\n

Stalls around the Philippi Mall and Philippi Plaza have been looted and damaged. It\u2019s not safe for motorists; passing private cars are being stoned.<\/p>\n

‘I pleaded for my life’<\/b><\/p>\n

Simon Filander\u2019s truck was burnt to ashes in Philippi.<\/p>\n

Filander said he was driving from Nyanga to Mitchells Plain via Philippi when his truck was stoned by a group of more than 100 youths. He said the incident happened at the corners of Emms Drive and Govan Mbeki Road after 09:00.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people had blocked the road with stones and tyres so I could not speed off. They stoned the truck and shouted that I should stop and get out. I complied. I pleaded for my life and asked them not to hurt me because I have small children. They asked me to run and from a distance I could see the car burning,\u201d said Filander.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I woke up this morning, I never thought this would happen to me. I\u2019m sad but at the same time happy I\u2019m not hurt,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not know where to go and because I am a coloured person I am different from everyone there,\u201d Filander said. \u201cI was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he had to ask for refuge at a nearby house. A woman allowed him to sit at her house while police came to escort Filander out of the area.<\/p>\n

We spoke to some of the looters and stone throwers. Some are as young as 13. One young person told us: \u201cEveryone else is looting so I decided to join. I\u2019m not a taxi driver. The taxi shutdown got out of control and people like myself have taken advantage of the situation. I can\u2019t stop it myself because no one is going to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

One youth said that he and his friends had attempted to break into the Junction Mall in Philippi but were stopped by law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are participating in this violence because of the hype around it. We are gaining nothing except damaging people\u2019s cars and property. Every car that passes here is stoned unless you are known around the area or people are scared of you. If we see you are scared, we attack but if we suspect you might be armed with a firearm or the car is full of men no one touches you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stalls at the corner of New Eisleben Road were damaged and looted and tyres burnt on the road. Another young person told GroundUp he managed to take some clothing and electrical appliances that were sold at these stalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to get our hands on anything valuable that might be useful to us to sell,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

David Maynier, the provincial education minister, said the strike had prevented over 450 000 pupils and nearly 17 500 staff from getting to school on Monday. He said this \u201cis a devastating loss of teaching and learning time that our children simply cannot afford\u201d.<\/p>\n

In Samora Machel, Philippi, teachers and pupils ran away when they were chased by taxi drivers.<\/p>\n

About 20 staff at Weltevreden Primary School as well as pupils were standing outside the school gates when the drivers arrived.<\/p>\n

Thembinkosi Gura, the school\u2019s caretaker, said he was hesitant to open the gates because he received threats that all operating schools would be burned with people inside.<\/p>\n

A few moments later as children made their way to the school with their parents, taxi drivers from the nearby taxi rank started throwing stones and using their vehicles to chase people.<\/p>\n

Besides pupils, they also targeted people going to work. The taxi drivers wore balaclavas to cover their faces.<\/p>\n

A Grade 5 pupil at Weltevreden said he was at the school gates waiting for it to open when he was chased by men carrying big stones, telling him to go home.<\/p>\n

A Grade 8 pupil from Philippi Secondary said he was on his way to school when he saw other pupils running back so he ran with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t go to school tomorrow\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

Business and daycare centres in the area were closed on Monday.<\/p>\n

Metrorail acting regional manager, Raymond Maseko, said that train services had been affected by the taxi strike as staff were not able to get to work.<\/p>\n

Maseko said train services were curtailed by about 20% in the morning, but were operating normally in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

He said the Cape Town to Nyanga line was most affected, with the first trains running from 05:30 rather than the usual 04:30 departure time.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Criminals have taken advantage of the taxi shutdown by hijacking vehicles, looting shops and burning infrastructure. One of our reporters also witnessed taxi drivers directly taking part in the violence that enveloped parts of Cape Town on Monday, GroundUp reported. The situation is especially volatile in Philippi, where there was a standoff […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":52395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[274,315,279,2372,543,1724,275,572,295],"class_list":["post-52396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-cape-town","tag-crime-and-courts","tag-protests","tag-santaco","tag-south-africa-2","tag-transport","tag-western-cape"],"yoast_head":"\nTaxi drivers chase school children in day of violence in Cape Town - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Criminals have taken advantage of the taxi shutdown by hijacking vehicles, looting shops and burning infrastructure. 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