SUMMARY

The taxi association Lagunya had a monopoly on transport between diverse Cape Town townships from the 1950s onwards. When Webta entered the market in 1986, heavy competition broke out over taxi transport services in the larger Cape Town area. Webta could afford higher wages for its drivers and more taxis on the road due to the fact it was financed by white businessmen. In 1991 this competition reached a point where Lagunya started losing income. This was the departing point for a conflict between the two taxi associations.

There are allegations that the conflict was instigated as an attempt by the government to neutralize the ANC-communities Nyanga and Khayelitsha, which were traditional Lagunya areas. Several incidents are reported where the police were aware of upcoming Webta violence but did not intervene, or worse, participated in the violence. The fact that the government was able to employ these tactics can be led back to the fact that Webta and Lagunya members had a very different background, which could be used as a divide and rule tactic. Webta represented taxi operators who were more traditional, coming from the rural areas in Ciskei and Transkei. Lagunya on the other hand, represented the more urbanized Africans.

Most of the victims in the conflict between Lagunya and Webta were commuters, traveling on the taxis to and from work in the Cape Town area. They were mostly caught in cross-fire between the rival taxi associations. Webta however occasionally targeted citizens. These actions were seen as attempts to take out ANC supporters, since they mostly occurred in ANC areas. The fighting between the two associations continued in lulls, until they were collapsed into a united taxi association, Codeta (Cape Organisation for a Democratic Taxi Association).

The non-state conflict between Lagunya and Webta is first included in UCDP data in 1991. In October of that year, violence between the two groups crossed the 25 battle-related deaths threshold.