Old images mislead about taxi violence in South Africa

Published on August 1, 2025 at 16:19
3 min read
By Tendai DUBE, AFP South Africa

Spates of taxi-related violence in South Africa are commonplace and usually deadly. Images of minibus taxis set alight in North West province began circulating on social media in July, but the context is misleading; the pictures were taken in 2022 after community members clashed with taxi drivers and set their vehicles on fire. Since then, the images continue to resurface out of context.

“Taxis set alight in Sisa North West. Members of the community became angry after Taxi drivers stopped vehicles with more than three occupants on their way to work forcing them to use their Taxis,” reads a Facebook post published on July 24, 2025.

The post, shared more than 3,400 times, includes two pictures of burning minibuses — vehicles commonly used in South Africa’s informal public transport sector.

Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, published on July 24, 2025

Similar posts circulated on X, garnering over 13,000 likes, and on TikTok and Instagram.

However, the claims are misleading.

2022 violence

A reverse image search revealed that the pictures have been online for more than three years and first featured in local articles and community newspapers that described two taxis set alight at Thembelani Mine in Rustenberg in the North West province (archived here and here).

“The incident occurred after some taxi operators had allegedly beaten up three mineworkers for taking away their business by ferrying passengers using their vehicles,” Platinum Weekly, a local community paper, reported on May 20, 2022.

The photos were also published on X, with the same caption as the claims circulating in 2025 (archived here).

Taxis set alight in Sisa North West. Members of the community became angry after Taxi drivers stopped vehicles with more than three occupants on their way to work forcing them to use their Taxis. pic.twitter.com/sFkcXC54fB
— CrimeInSA (@sa_crime) May 17, 2022

The same claim was debunked in 2024 after another X user posted the misleading pictures (archived here).

Provincial police spokesperson Sabata Mokgwabone told AFP Fact Check on August 1, 2025, that they are “not aware of recent incidents of taxi violence”.

Not so in other provinces, however.

In neighbouring Gauteng, officials announced the formation of a specialised task team in July to combat ongoing taxi violence after at least 59 people linked to the industry were killed in the first three months of this year (archived here and here).

Screenshot of July 18, 2025, interview with the provincial government

Another task team is operating in the Western Cape, in partnership with the local taxi industry, to quell a similar spate of deadly disputes over lucrative routes (archived here).

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