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Nhlanhla Lux Downplays Soweto Taxi and E-Hailing Clashes as ‘Just Competition’

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2 weeks ago

August 15, 2025

Chiraag

Nhlanhla Lux, Soweto taxi industry, e-hailing drivers South Africa, Maponya Mall protests, Bolt Uber Soweto, taxi e-hailing competition, Pimville community, Joburg ETC

Lux dismisses turf war claims after driver killing

Soweto parliament president Nhlanhla “Lux” Dlamini has pushed back against talk of a violent turf war between the township’s taxi industry and e-hailing drivers, insisting the issue is “business competition” rather than a feud.

Lux spoke outside Maponya Mall on Friday following the murder of a 27-year-old e-hailing driver earlier in the week. “The taxi industry, Soweto Taxi Service, and the e-hailing organisations are clear they are not fighting. If they are not fighting, then who is fighting?” he told the media.

He urged the public and the press to avoid fuelling tensions with their choice of words. “There is business competition, not tensions. There are no tensions; there is competition that needs to be regulated.”

Protesters tell a different story

While Lux described a cooperative relationship between taxis and e-hailers at local malls, protesters outside Maponya Mall claimed otherwise. Several residents said they could not request an e-hailing service from inside the mall. Instead, they had to walk to nearby petrol stations or traffic lights to meet their drivers.

Gauteng MEC for Transport Kedibone Diale-Tlabela told the crowd that a designated e-hailing pick-up area had been agreed upon at the mall. The response from the protestors was blunt: taxi operators should vacate the premises within seven days.

Maponya Mall briefly shut its doors on Thursday in protest over the killing, reopening the next day.

Questions over the driver’s death

Lux suggested that the killing might be linked to the victim being unknown in the local e-hailing scene. According to the family, the young man had only started working as an e-hailing driver on Monday. “That is why Bolt and Uber services in Soweto and Johannesburg do not know him,” Lux said.

Although he did not confirm whether the driver was targeted for not being part of a local organisation or paying protection fees, similar practices have been reported elsewhere. In KwaZulu-Natal last year, the Dolphin Coast Taxi Association in Ballito was accused of charging e-hailing drivers a R20 000 joining fee plus monthly payments to limit competition. The National Taxi Alliance publicly distanced itself from the practice.

Who speaks for the community?

The Pimville community, where Maponya Mall is based, called for a seven-day mourning closure in honour of the slain driver. By Friday, business had returned to normal.

Lux said he was there to protect the mall from possible attacks and questioned whether the protesters truly represented Pimville. “People call themselves communities when they are a sponsored crowd,” he said. “The real community is here. I am a homeowner in Pimville; the ones renting must not come and tell us here.”

A familiar face in Soweto politics

Lux rose to national prominence in 2021 when he claimed to have defended Maponya Mall during the July unrest that saw several Soweto malls looted. At the time, he was a leading figure in Operation Dudula, a movement known for its controversial stance on immigration and local employment.