Old images from Cape Town falsely linked to fresh taxi violence in Johannesburg

After gunmen in South Africa killed a ride-hailing driver in Johannesburg in August 2025, social media users began circulating images claiming to show a teenager whose fleet of inherited minibus taxis was destroyed in the subsequent unrest. But the posts are false; the photo is a screenshot from footage published on TikTok in April and July 2025, following taxi-related violence in Nyanga, a large township about 1,400 kilometres away in the Western Cape province.

“Yesterday, 18 taxis were burned down,” reads an X post published on August 16, 2025, as breaking news.

The post adds: “A 17-year-old came home from school only to find out that all 18 taxis his late father left him had been set on fire, reportedly by Uber drivers.”

The X post, with hundreds of reposts and more than 4,000 likes, claims that one of the teenager’s “drivers is suspected of having burned an Uber car”.

The post features an image of an individual wearing a school uniform and carrying a backpack. In front of him stands a row of minibuses destroyed by fire.

Similar posts circulated on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

However, the pictures show taxis set alight earlier in the year in Cape Town and are unrelated to current transport-related clashes in Johannesburg.

February fires in Cape Town

Image and keyword searches unearthed other pictures of the purported teenage taxi owner circulating online with the TikTok handle @evayomatakane.

The account frequently posts content about taxis in Cape Town with the hashtag “taxiowner”.

Video versions of the pictures circulating in the false posts were uploaded on April 25, 2025, and again on July 3, 2025.

Comments on the false posts suggested that the footage shows a taxi rank in Nyanga, Cape Town, which was confirmed in a video report published on TikTok by South Africa’s IOL News on February 10, 2025 (archived here).

“Authorities have deployed additional police officers to Nyanga Taxi Rank in Cape Town following a violent incident on Sunday evening, where more than a dozen taxis were set ablaze,” reads IOL’s caption on TikTok.

“The situation has raised concerns over ongoing tensions in the transport sector, prompting heightened security measures,” it adds.

The unique burns on the minibuses and poles in the background indicate the IOL footage, and the video of the schoolboy depicts the aftermath of the same unrest in Cape Town in February 2025.

One of the angles on Google Street View matches the IOL News footage, with landmarks including the mountain on the horizon, the poles and the trees.

AFP Fact Check contacted the TikTok user @evayomatakane and will update this article if they respond.

Taxi war

On August 13, 2025, Uber driver Mthokozisi Mvelas was shot dead and set alight in Johannesburg in the latest violence between e-hailing transport operators and traditional taxi and minibus drivers (archived here and here).

The next day, a minibus was set on fire, allegedly by angry Soweto community residents.

At least two people, including a passerby, were wounded in the gunfire, police said.

“A case of murder, attempted murder with two counts and arson is opened for further investigations,” police said, adding that the incident was “suspected to be taxi violence related”.

Minibus taxis are the backbone of South Africa’s public transport system, but violent turf wars and criminal influence plague the industry (archived here).

The rivalry with ride-hailing drivers has intensified, with e-hailing operators frequently facing threats of violence in areas controlled by minibus drivers (archived here).