The Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) has welcomed the arrest of a man who is accused of fatally shooting taxi “iron-lady” Charmaine Bailey (“Shock to taxi industry as ‘iron lady’ slain,” May 10).
The 32-year old was arrested in Hout Bay during a police tracing operation by the Taxi Violence Unit and appeared in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court on charges of murder on Monday July 3, said police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa.
Ms Bailey, a Cata training officer and chairperson of the Wynberg Taxi Association, was gunned down in Maynard Road, on Thursday May 4, at the organisation’s Wynberg office after attending a meeting to discuss taxi-related issues.
Cata spokesman Nkululeko Sityebi said the organisation was pleased that an arrest had been made in the murder case.
“We are very grateful for the progress of the case and that someone was arrested. We will keep an eye on the procession of the case,” he said.
The arrest comes after the Western Cape’s Department of Mobility last month announced a joint task team to help speed up investigations and prosecutions of murders and attempted murders in the taxi industry.
The department’s partnership with the police and the National Prosecuting Authority aims to tackle the murder and attempted murder cases that have long plagued the industry.
Mobility MEC Ricardo Mackenzie said the department knew of more than 550 criminal cases from 2019 to 2022, including murder and attempted murder related to disputes in the industry, and hoped that the partnership would help to speed up investigations.
Mr Sityebi welcomed the task team’s involvement and said Cata would do all it could to assist the police in their investigations.
“People are rarely arrested in taxi violence cases, and if they are, cases take years in court. With the extra help, it will hopefully quell some of the ongoing violent issues in the industry.”
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