The Sebenza SAPS Taxi Forum held its bi-monthly meeting on March 15 at the police station.
The forum was launched together with various taxi associations in May 2016.
The Sebenza SAPS communications officer, Sergeant Sharon Tsotsotso, said the aim of the forum was to act as a link between the police and the taxi associations in order to keep the lines of communication open.
“The forum aims to bring stability and peace to the industry,” she said.
One of the issues discussed at the meeting was the Toyota Quantum operating around the Sebenza and Croydon areas.
Also read: Sebenza SAPS launches taxi association forum
Tsotsotso said the white Quantum has a group of men and a woman who it targets commuters traveling from Sebenza or Croydon areas to Johannesburg and Tembisa in the afternoons. A suggestion was made that the various taxi associations need to inform their taxi drivers and squads to be on the lookout for this vehicle.
“We need the taxi associations to assist us in solving this issue because taxi drivers know each other and the taxis they operate in. We need all the stakeholders to work together in order to come up with a solution to this problem,” said Tsotsotso.
Another issue that was discussed was taxi drivers who fill up their taxis at petrol stations and then drive off without paying.
“We need the associations to help identify the culprits because the registration numbers used on the taxis that were caught on camera do not correspond with the vehicles. One of the registrations belongs to a scooter. We need the associations to identify the taxis because even though the registrations don’t correspond, the association stickers are visible and we can see which associations the taxis belong to,” said Tsotsotso.
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Sebenza CPF chairman Andrew Mosesi suggested commuter awareness as one of the things that need to be focused on.
“Most commuters don’t know how taxis operate and which routes they operate in. There must also be a desk where commuters can report complaints and compliments. Taxis can have a sticker with numbers to call, should a commuter have a complaint. I think that will also make the drivers behave more professional and know that there will be consequences if they mistreat their passengers,” said Mosesi.
May 17 was proposed as the next date for the next meeting.
