Concerns about the safety of shoppers at Eastgate Shopping Centre surfaced again with some Kensington residents taking to social media and venting their frustrations about metered taxis.
The EXPRESS reported in April last year that metered taxis at Eastgate were accused of putting shoppers’ lives at risk.
The Eastgate Shopping Centre then commented that it was aware of altercations between taxi services and metered taxi drivers at and around the centre.
“Providing a safe and secure shopping experience is a priority for Eastgate Shopping Centre and to this end, several strategic measures have been put in place in an effort to not only resolve the situation between e-hailing services and metered taxis, but very importantly to provide a safe and secure shopping environment for our customers, no matter their preferred means of transport,” said Kelly Belman, Eastgate general manager in response to the most recent complaints.
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The EXPRESS met with the centre management on Wednesday to question the centre’s plans to ensure shoppers’ safety.
“The provision of unregulated e-hailing services is currently a national issue. It is not just at Eastgate. Until such time as legislation is passed to provide a clear regulatory framework, Eastgate has and will continue to conduct extensive ongoing meetings with all relevant stakeholders in the interest of resolving the situation,” said Belman.
These stakeholders include Eastgate owners, tenants and shoppers, as well as members from the relevant taxi associations, the e-hailing companies and leading bodies from Bedfordview SAPS and security services.
“We have also actively engaged the city council, the JMPD, SAPS, traffic department and relevant taxi owners to resolve this situation. We are committed to finding an amicable solution between all parties, with our customers’ safety at the centre being at the forefront of these efforts,” explained Belman.
The centre said shoppers have the right to decide their choice of transport and requested transport service providers to respect that.
“Together with stakeholders, we have come to the resolution that we will allocate specific spaces for drop-offs and pick-ups. We have allocated a designated area at entrance two for e-hailing services as a collection and drop-off area, with signage to create awareness. We have deployed additional tactical teams to this area for increased security.
“We have allocated designated areas for the metered taxis at entrance four, five and six, with signage to create awareness,” said Belman.
“E-hailing services and metered taxis are not considered a mode of ‘public transport’ such as taxis, but are rather seen as ‘private transport’. As such, they cannot share the taxi rank area.”
The centre has, however, demarcated a specific area for the metered taxis closer to the taxi rank for the convenience of customers should they wish to choose between the two transportation options offered.
Belman said should our customers wish to make use of a metered taxi, the contact details have been posted at the information desk.
She said the centre is aware that shoppers feel the centre has not taken concerns seriously.
“We want shoppers to know the centre understands the seriousness of the situation which is being treated with the utmost urgency. We are committed to resolving the violence, intimidation and discrimination occurring towards our customers, our security guards and other innocent members of the public. All customers who use e-hailing services are urged to be collected and dropped off at entrance two only, making specific use of the demarcated areas.
“Should a driver choose to drop a customer elsewhere, then we ask that the customer reports this to the head office of the relevant e-hailing company used so they too can ensure all their drivers and security are well versed when it comes to pick-ups and drop-offs at Eastgate,” said Belman.
“We extend our deepest regrets for the unpleasant experiences being had by some of our customers and assure them we are working around the clock to resolve this,” said Belman.
The centre urged shoppers to report incidents of intimidation, harassment and attacks to the SAPS and centre management.
