Western Cape Transport MEC, Donald Grant, is looking at decisive measures to address violent incidents in George which culminated in the torching of four vehicles, including municipal cars.
Grant said today that he had published a notice in the Government gazette announcing his intention to implement extraordinary measures to protect commuters and secure infrastructure in George.
He says this follows three days of violence and criminal acts, including the torching of two George municipal traffic patrol cars and the petrol bombing of the private vehicle of a GoGeorge Bus Service employee.
His spokesperson, Siphesihle Dube, says they deem the situation in George to be very serious.
He says extraordinary measures could inlcude the closure of taxi ranks.
Grant says the origins of the conflict in George go back as far as 2006, when the George Integrated Public Transport Network was mooted for rollout and which local taxi associations have been resisting.
He says he has decided to declare the George area as high-risk in respect of taxi violence.
George police have deployed a team of specialist detectives to probe the torching of four vehicles, including municipal traffic vehicles, in Thembalethu this week.
Police spokesperson, Captain Malcolm Pojie, says preliminary investigations indicate that the arson attacks came after traffic officials had embarked on a special operation targeting unroadworthy taxis.
He says police deployments in Thembalethu have also been intensified.
Pojie says two of the four vehicles are privately owned, but one of them belonged to a traffic officer.
