Sebenza SAPS meets with Greenstone taxi drivers
The meeting was aimed at addressing some of the issues raised by the Greenstone Shopping Centre management.
The Sebenza SAPS held a meeting with taxi drivers of the various taxi associations at the Greenstone Taxi Rank on October 12.
The Sebenza SAPS communications officer, Sergeant Sharon Mahamba-Tsotsotso, said the meeting was aimed at addressing some of the issues raised by the Greenstone Shopping Centre management.
“The Sebenza SAPS station commander felt it was important for us to meet with the drivers as part of the project we are doing to foster relationships with taxi drivers. The Greenstone management has raised a number of issues with regards to the behaviour of some of the drivers in Greenstone,” said Sgt Tsotsotso.
She said some of the issues raised by centre management included the obstruction on the road during peak hours, drivers who parked in the customer parking areas and taxis that are fixed in the parking areas.
“Centre management said some taxi drivers stop anywhere when picking up and dropping off passengers, and that this results in unnecessary delays in traffic around the Greenstone area. Another issue raised was the drivers who park in the customer parking area, even though taxis were allocated their own parking in the centre,” she said.
Sgt Tsotsotso said another issue they have encountered were the hawkers in the rank who use the benches allocated for commuters to sell their goods.
During the meeting, Sgt Tsotsotso urged the taxi drivers to abide by the rules as agreed upon between the taxi associations and the centre management, as failure to do so could lead to them being evicted from them the mall.
She also urged the hawkers to move out of the mall as it was illegal for them to sell there.
“The management has tried on a number of occasions to address these issues and they feel that the taxi drivers are not willing to change. Another issue is the taxis that block delivery entrances.
“This is a huge problem because the trucks cannot make deliveries because the entrances are blocked by taxis. If the taxis do not work together and resolve these issues, they might find themselves out of the mall,”she said.
“We are aware of these issues and we are trying to address it because we know who the perpetrators are. We are trying to deal with this matter because it is not good for our business,” said one of the taxi drivers.
The drivers want taxi association leaders to address the matter with the various taxi owners, who will speak to their drivers.
Sgt Tsotsotso said it was important for the drivers and owners to work together in finding the solutions as this affects all of them.
