Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) president Siviwe Kiva (42) appeared in the Paarl Magistrates’ Court today (1 June), in connection with a murder case stemming from an incident in 2023.

According to Eric Ntabazalila, communications manager for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Western Cape, Kiva appeared on a charge of premeditated murder.

However, attorneys William Fullard and Bernard Coetzee of Mathewson Gess Attorneys in Cape Town, who form part of Kiva’s legal team, disputed this description.

They said the matter relates to charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and indicated that it could either be a schedule 5 or 6 bail application.

The charges allegedly arise from claims that Kiva instructed hitmen between March and November 2023 to eliminate several individuals who operated on taxi routes that overlapped with those of his association. One of the alleged incidents is said to have taken place in Paarl.

The matter was postponed, with the court remanding Kiva in custody until his next appearance on Thursday (4 June).

Security was visibly heightened inside the courtroom, with members of the South African Police Service’s Western Cape Tactical Response Team, an elite unit tasked with combating violent crime, in attendance.

Kiva was arrested in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape on 7 May soon after the Magistrates’ Court in this town withdrew a murder charge against him.

Kiva ​​was then brought to Cape Town and has been in custody since 21 May.

His first appearance in this case in Wynberg was on 11 May, and he then appeared for the first time in the Paarl Magistrates’ Court on 13 May.

Bail granted in Wynberg matter

Kiva’s appearance in Paarl comes against the backdrop of a separate criminal case in which he was granted R30 000 bail by the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on 21 May.

In that matter, he faces charges of murder and attempted murder, also linked to allegations that he hired hitmen during 2023.

Despite securing bail in the Wynberg case, Kiva remained behind bars because of the pending murder proceedings in Paarl.

As part of the bail conditions imposed in the Wynberg matter, Kiva was ordered to attend all future court appearances until the case is finalised.

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“He was also ordered not to have any contact with state witnesses, either directly or indirectly, pending the finalisation of the matter,” Ntabazalila previously told NovaNews.

“In addition, he must report to Table View Police Station four times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays between 10:00 and 17:00.”

The court further ordered that Kiva reside at an address in Leadville Way, Sunningdale, Cape Town, for the duration of that case. However, he remains in custody pending the outcome of his bail application in the Paarl matter.

He is set to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court again on 8 June.

Kiva’s arrest came just days after Cata and its long-time rival, the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta), revived a peace agreement aimed at ending years of violence between the two taxi organisations.