Daylin mitchell
WC authorities welcome arrest of suspect linked to Intercape bus attacks
Police arrested the 28-year-old man in the Cape Winelands on Saturday.
Western Cape Mobility MEC Daylin Mitchell shut the route in July last year due to conflict between the Paarl Alliance Taxi Association, affiliated to Codeta, and Cata Boland, who both claim rights to the route.
The provincial administration was due a reshuffle after a surprise resignation by one MEC and damning sex allegations against another.
Western Cape Transport MEC Daylin Mitchell said the registrar's office has called the two taxi associations to a meeting after two taxi operators were murdered and one injured on Wednesday night.
This follows violence that coincided with a march in Cape Town's CBD on Thursday and a disruptive slow-moving convoy on the highway.
Last week, five vehicles, including two Golden Arrow busses and an Eskom vehicle, were hit by petrol bombs in the Nyanga area and the attacks have been linked to Amaphela operators.
Offences ranged from reckless drivers, unroadworthy vehicles and speeding.
On Monday, Transport MEC Daylin Mitchell launched the Festive Season Safety Plan for the Western Cape. At the event, 86 student traffic officers graduated and will be deployed across the province.
Western Cape MEC for Transport Daylin Mitchell said that the extension would kick in on Friday. He said that the decision was made after concerted efforts to stop violence between operators affiliated to Cata and Codeta failed.
Officials had been conducting an operation on Monday morning, impounding seven minibuses and arresting three drivers.
Traffic authorities made the grim discovery during a routine stop and search operation along the N2 highway near Somerset West.
Western Cape Transport MEC Daylin Mitchell said preliminary reports suggested that the SUV, in overtaking another vehicle, collided with the truck that was transporting 57 farmworkers.
It's still not clear what caused Friday morning's crash outside Parliament in Cape Town's CBD.
The new arch bridge weighs a whopping 8,000 tons and is 113 metres in length, reaching an altitude of 22 metres.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said the development demonstrated the seriousness with which the parties regarded the agreement signed earlier in the week.
There have been more than 80 taxi-related murders in the Western Cape so far this year, almost a third of those have happened this month.
The deaths of two men and a woman killed in a shooting in Khayelitsha on Thursday brings the total number of taxi-related murders to almost 80 this year alone.
MEC Daylin Mitchell said they met with CATA on Wednesday, and would continue engaging on Thursday with Codeta.
MEC Mitchell said a peace pledge was signed by CATA and Codeta last week, a public commitment to safeguard commuters, however, there had been more violence.