A Macassar family is mourning the loss of a 56-year-old driver, who was shot and killed at a busy taxi pick-up point on Tuesday morning following a feud between the Cape Amalgamate Taxi Association (Cata) and the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) over the Khayelitsha-Somerset West route.

Hilton Williams’ mother, Joan, 85, said she learned of her son’s death shortly after 7am.

“Strangely enough, that morning I was in a deep sleep. Usually, I tell him when he leaves that I hear you, my boy, and I tell him to be careful and that I am praying for him. That morning when he said he was leaving, I could hear him in my sleep, but I didn’t reply to him,” she said.

“He was the most loving, most caring, and honest son. He was my all in all… I am praying to God to give me the strength and courage to move on. I am broken.”

She said she had always warned Hilton about the dangers in the industry.

“I would tell him not to go and he would insist that it was his job and he had to do it. He was loyal to his work. I would like to see changes in the taxi industry … that drivers and passengers are kept safe at the pick-up points.”

His widow, Ursula, said the gunmen “took a piece of her” when they murdered her husband of over 30 years.

“Before I went to the scene, I prepared myself with God because I had the feeling this was not going to be good. When I saw his lifeless body lying on the ground, I had peace. He looked peaceful. Did it have to happen? Why does it happen all the time? This could have been avoided. They took a part of me.”

She described him as a proud and loving father who was devoted to his family.

“When he had time, he would spend it with his grandchildren. He was a breadwinner, and he loved his children so much and he was very proud of them. We will all miss him forever.”

Codeta spokesperson, Makhosandile Tumana, said tensions between the rival groups had resurfaced despite earlier agreements.

“We started fighting after shifting from the resolutions. As Codeta, we made a compromise of working with Cata, but it is very clear now that it’s not easy to work together. If members of the industry can learn that if there is any form of dispute, before fighting, there should rather be a meeting to try and find a solution,” he said.

Tumana apologised to commuters: “We are extremely sorry for what happened, and not only to those who were physically affected but those who had to hear gunshots.”

Cata spokesperson Nkululeko Sityebi said another driver who was shot in Philippi East died on Thursday morning, around 10am.

“There is no other update that we have.” 

Western Cape MEC for Mobility, Ricardo Mackenzie Sileku, condemned the violence.

“The safety of commuters, operators, and the broader public is non-negotiable,” he said.

“The current escalation of tensions between Cata and Codeta, the two largest taxi groupings in this province, and the violence that followed, shows that some in the industry are acting in bad faith and undermining the commitments they made to government and to the people of the Western Cape. This violence is nothing less than an attack on innocent commuters, and those who choose conflict over peace will face the full force of the law.”

Sileku said his department is exploring additional steps within the regulatory framework to strengthen stability and accountability in the industry. Authorities remain on high alert to prevent further incidents.

mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za

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