South African National Taxi Council embarked on a strike last Thursday over Cape Town’s bylaw which allows city officials to impound vehicles instead of fining drivers when they have disregarded road rules such as not indicating or overloading.
Violence has since erupted in the province, with stones thrown at vehicles on roads and vehicles burnt. Santaco distanced itself from the violence and called on law enforcement agencies to find the perpetrators. Protesting with valid reasons or not, it has become a pattern that strikes involving taxi drivers tend to turn to violence.
Newham, who is the head of the justice and violence programme at the Institute for security Studies, analysed why this happens and what could be done about it.