Nine people were shot dead and three others injured in alleged taxi violence in the Western Cape, police said on Saturday.

The men were killed in different locations around Cape Town on Friday afternoon until the early hours of Saturday morning, police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said.

Rwexana said officers arrested two people, aged 39 and 45, in Gugulethu following a shooting incident in Wynberg, where a taxi driver was shot. Police seized two unlicensed firearms.

She said a detective-led task team was set up to probe these incidents.

Tactical response and the national intervention units teams were deployed at the identified hotspots, she said.

“Emergency meetings with role players in the transport sector, City of Cape Town, traffic services, SAPS and other law enforcement agencies are underway in an effort to determine the source of the violent incidents. Police have vowed to clamp on all taxi related violence including the latest cases.”