Gauteng public transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo will appoint administrators to run the Nancefield Dube West Taxi Association (Nanduwe) and Witwatersrand African Taxi Owners Association (Wata), after his decision to dissolve them.

Mamabolo intervened after a deadly taxi feud in Johannesburg by dissolving the executives of the two taxi associations.

Two squad patrollers belonging to Nanduwe were killed in a hail of bullets on Tuesday morning while sitting in the association’s vehicle.

Police spokesperson Capt Mavela Masondo said an investigation showed that three suspects approached the patrol vehicle and fired several shots, before running into the Nancefield hostel.

Nanduwe’s secretary Dumisani Mpungose, who was driving to KwaZulu-Natal to bury two of the association's members killed in the feud, said the association was not aware of Mamabolo’s decision to dissolve their executive and appoint an administrator.

“As I’m talking to you I’m on the way to bury our brothers. If he wants to dissolve us he can do so ... he has the powers but he must know we were not elected by him but by our members,” Mpungose said.

Wata's Mthandeni Ndlovu said: “Mamabolo hasn’t communicated with us ... We are still the executive and will continue working as normal.”

Ndlovu said they had only read about Mamabolo’s statement in the media — a claim dismissed by Mambolo’s office.

“We are still ferrying people and he knows where to find us when he wants to communicate with us,” Ndlovu said before ending the interview.

Mamabolo said he was deeply dismayed by the latest incident which had resulted in blood being spilt.

‘We cannot allow the taxi industry to turn our province into the capital of murder and violent gangs,” Mamabolo said.

He called on police to investigate the murders and bring the killers to book.

Mamabolo’s office said the MEC had the authority to intervene in such circumstances and would in the next few days appoint administrators.

“The North Gauteng High Court recently ratified an agreement between Gauteng’s major taxi structures, the Gauteng National Taxi Alliance (GNTA) and the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco-Gauteng), giving the MEC powers to dissolve taxi associations involved in acts of violence,” the department said.

In June last year the two associations signed an agreement for the reopening of taxi ranks and routes that were closed due to violence in March 2019.

The affected ranks were the Makhetha Stores Taxi Rank, Mofolo Sizwe Stores Taxi Rank, Kwa-Mthetwa Stores Taxi Rank, Dube Station Taxi Rank, Makhetha Garage Taxi Rank and Uncle Tom’s Hall Taxi Rank.

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