The minibus taxi industry, once a symbol of community resilience, is trapped in a destructive cycle of violence. The government must act decisively before the system collapses under its own contradictions.

Almost every week, South Africans wake up to reports of yet another outbreak of taxi violence, especially in Cape Town. Routes are closed, commuters are stranded, and families are left to mourn lives senselessly lost.

What should be a routine system of public transport has too often become a source of danger. The minibus taxi industry, long regarded as the backbone of our public transport network, finds itself trapped in a painful impasse where violence has become both the symptom and the cause of its ongoing crisis.

It must be said without hesitation: this cannot continue. The industry that transports the majority of South Africans daily, especially the working poor, is tearing itself apart.

The violence is not only killing people; it is destroying the very spirit that once made the taxi industry a symbol of resilience and self-determination.

As someone who has spent years researching and engaging with taxi operators, commuters and associations, I write this as an academic and a concerned citizen: the violence must stop. For the sake of commuters, operators and the nation's economic stability, we must end this destructive cycle before it consumes us all.

The taxi industry's roots are grounded in survival and resistance....