In my early years in Johannesburg, I took a taxi from the Noord taxi rank to Buhle Park in Germiston, where I was staying with my cousin.
It was just before 8pm and as the taxi approached the Shell Ultra City on the M2 east, the driver asked which passenger had not paid. There was dead silence. He then off-ramped on Cleveland Road to take the fearful passengers back to the taxi rank.
Some offered to pay the outstanding amount, but our driver wasn’t interested. He refunded all of us and then ordered us out of his minibus. The rank manager had to allocate another taxi for us. It was an unfortunate experience that served only to confirm the worst stereotypes about the taxi industry.
Most users of public transport have similar experiences or have suffered worse at the hands of taxi drivers. It is an industry notorious for mistreating the very customers it serves and is again in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Last month, suspected taxi operators attacked e-hailing services drivers at Maponya Mall in Soweto. Mthokozisi Mvelase was shot dead, and his vehicle was torched – burning his body to ashes. Two other people, another e-hailing driver and a passenger, were wounded during the incident.
Last week in Ekurhuleni, taxi operators went on strike after police impounded minibus taxis that did not have valid licences to be on the road. Thousands of passengers in Kempton Park and Germiston were left stranded.
That same week in KwaDabeka, west of Durban, taxi operators attacked e-hailing drivers. Police detained 15 taxi operators and impounded 25 taxis. What has been the response from the taxi operators? They have withdrawn their services, leaving thousands of commuters stranded.
The taxi industry is an important player in the public transport sector. Minibus taxis transport more than 15-million passengers daily. The economy cannot function efficiently without the industry moving the workforce to and from work. However, the industry needs to treat its customers better.
In both KwaDabeka and some parts of Gauteng, the industry is fighting against the failures of the government. First, the government’s delay in regulating the e-hailing services saw the taxi operators attacking e-hailing services because they say the vehicles do not have permits to operate on the routes covered by different taxi associations.
Second, the fight is about the 10-seater minibus taxis that authorities insist should not be allowed to ferry passengers, hence traffic officials refuse to grant these taxis permits to operate on the roads. However, taxi operators have defied the authorities, which is why these taxis are being impounded.
All the grievances by the taxi industry have to do with government laws and regulations. It is through dialogue with the government that solutions can be found. If those talks fail to yield results, the taxi operators would be justified in taking out their frustrations on the government.
That is why it is mind-boggling that the taxi industry is directing its anger at its own customers. In any other business, dissatisfied customers would move on to another service provider. But this is SA and options are limited when it comes to public transport. Even when passengers find other means of transport, they get intimidated by so-called taxi patrollers who seem to be under the impression that only taxis have a God-given right to provide transport.
The industry needs to conduct serious introspection about how it treats commuters and fellow motorists. Drastic action needs to be taken by the industry to shake off its image of being violent, rude and lawless. The sober-minded players in the industry should lead a campaign to teach their colleagues that commuters come first and that their customers should not be the first victims whenever they are at odds with the state.
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