Western Cape police have arrested one person in connection with the murder of Charmaine Bailey.
Bailey, a Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (CATA) training officer, was gunned down at the organisation’s Wynberg office in May. She was also the chairperson of the Wynberg Taxi Association.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said the 32-year-old suspected murderer was arrested on Saturday in Hout Bay during a tracing operation.
They are expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday to face a murder charge.
Bailey, 53, who worked for the regional taxi council, was gunned down while speaking to someone on the sidelines of a meeting with taxi association members from Wynberg and Hout Bay.
The meeting had been called to discuss internal operations, CATA spokesperson Nkululeko Sityebi previously told News24.
At the time, CATA ruled out the possibility that Bailey was gunned down by a driver from her primary association.
Bailey’s family described her as a businesswoman committed to seeing empowerment in the taxi industry.
At the time of her murder, sources close to the investigation said the motive was believed to be linked to a dispute between rivals of the Hout Bay Taxi Association and Wynberg Taxi Association.
The province has seen several murders in the industry in recent months.
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Bailey’s killing comes one month after the death of Sizwe Khobocwana, who was affiliated to the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations.
Khobocwana, 55, was the chairperson of Route 1 between Khayelitsha, Wynberg and Claremont. He was shot dead in his car in front of his home in Kuils River.
Siyabulela Mandyoli, the chairperson of the Codeta-Paarl Taxi Association Alliance, was shot dead on 6 June. He was credited by the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) for keeping the peace between Codeta and CATA in the struggle over the B97 route between Paarl and Bellville.
In addition, another three CATA members were killed in the province in June.
Last week, the Western Cape Department of Mobility announced a joint task team to help speed up investigations and prosecutions of murders and attempted murders in the taxi industry.
The latest initiative hopes to tackle the cases that take years to get to court.
Provincial Mobility MEC Ricardo Mackenzie said the department knew about 555 criminal cases between 2019 and 2022, including murder and attempted murder.
News24
