As we try our utmost to have a decent and safe existence in our streets after a taxi rank was erected on our doorstep in Somerset West, it is simply impossible.
In an area within these two streets, Lourens and Church, we have five old-age homes, three churches, one primary school and the municipal clinic, yet the DA-run City of Cape Town found it the perfect spot to plant a taxi rank, degrading this area to an absolute rubbish heap.
With all the huge open spaces around Somerset West where a taxi hold could have been erec-
ted, with a drop-off and pick-up point in the CBD, they found it absolutely perfect to turn all our lives upside down.
Taxi drivers are ducking and diving at the traffic lights on the corner of Lourens and Reitz streets as well as Church and Reitz. There are no traffic officers around who know fully what’s going on here. Music is so loud the cups on our tables rattle, but the instrument to test these decibels is still out of order I suppose, for after years of complaining no-one cares as nothing is done.
Commuters are now actually waiting on the corner of Lourens and Reitz to be picked up, as some taxi drivers find it just too much to go into the R64 million taxi rank or obey the laws.
Blocking the road while they do their pick-ups is common practice, even though it is illegal for taxis to operate in residential areas they use Lourens and Church streets to get to the rank. R64 million of ratepayers’ money is wasted. Half the vendor stands are empty, many preferring to operate inside the rank itself.
All kinds of undesirables are hanging out at the rank and the extra foot traffic in the street to and from it has turned our lives into a misery. All doors are locked and curtains are drawn to maintain our privacy.
We have no-one to turn to, because calling the police is a waste of time and by the time traffic officers arrive it is too late.
On Wednesday 4 June we got a warning to stay clear of the taxi area because Codeta members were fighting. We must stay indoors because taxi drivers have the right to turn this area into the wild west.
It will not be long before we will be hostages as the taxi strikes start and bullets, which have become synonymous with taxi ranks, fly. There’s always something happening.
Can you think what this means for us? The residents are living a stone’s throw from the rank. Our elderly are living in fear. How dare you, DA? You are cowards, thinking this was okay! It was never okay, but who are we, coloured homeowners, to complain? You are still the same, protecting your white leafy areas. Thousands of domestic workers and gardeners who work up in those leafy areas are picked up at the taxi rank and dropped off here, but God forbid you put a rank up there and you will be sued; you know how it goes . . .
Angry & frustrated homeowner
SOMERSET WEST
Kevin Jacobs, spokesperson for City Traffic Services responds: The City’s Transport Enforcement Unit within Traffic Services conducts regular enforcement patrols around the public transport interchange (PTI) area. Below are extracts from patrols in the area: 6 March 2025 – 112 fines issued; 4 April 2025 – 192 fines issued and four taxis impounded; 12 May – 106 fines issued, 15 members of the public assisted, 16 suspects searched and 13 complaints attended to; and 5 June 2025 – 198 fines issued and nine taxis impounded.
Given the sheer number of vehicles on the roads, the size of the metropole and the many demands on Traffic Services, it is simply not possible for officers to be visible everywhere, all the time.
Residents are requested to register complaints by phoning the City’s Public Emergency Communications Centre on 021 480 7700 from a cellphone and 107 from a landline. Criminal matters should be referred to the South African Police Service.
