No incidents of taxi related violence overnight and so far today.

Today, the Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, welcomes reports from the South African Police Services that there have been no incidents of taxi-related violence overnight and so far today.

There has also been a significant increase in SAPS and law enforcement presence, with Premier Alan Winde calling for additional SANDF boots on the ground.

Minister Fritz said, “we welcome the calm. Our residents deserve nothing less. It really upsets me that our citizens are not able to do the most basic things, like travel to work without worrying about being caught in crossfire. The instigators don’t think about the consequences of their actions. Last night I spoke to a petrol attendant who was alone on duty. He was telling me all his colleagues are too scared to travel. Automatically, that business and the jobs it generated, are at risk. So this taxi violence issue has far-reaching consequences and it must come to an end.”

Minister Fritz continued, “I want to be emphatic: we are not going to accept the kind of violence experienced by our communities over the past few weeks. We are not going to sit back and allow violence and criminality to terrorise our citizens.”

Minister Fritz concluded, “we would like to encourage the SAPS and all law enforcement agencies to continue to ensure our citizens are safe. We are already seeing the benefits of this significant SAPS response, and we need to keep up the good work. We now also need many more arrests, so all those responsible for this violence end up behind bars.”­