Sylvia Visagie from Reiger Park whose been a regular commuter at the taxi rank for 29 years said she was sjamboked on both her thighs after being accused of taking pictures of the taxi drivers at the Kempton Park taxi rank.
According to Visagie who works at Checkers Festival Mall, after coming out of the taxi she boarded from Ramaphosa to Kempton Park at around 8.15am, where she got off, there was a crowd that was standing there.
Apparently, someone was beaten up and police officers were there to assess the situation.
“While I was coming out of the taxi, I was already on the phone calling work to let them know that I was going to be a bit late. “So as I was hanging up, some man saw me and asked why was I taking pictures. I then asked why would I take pictures? I don’t even care about what’s happening there because I am late for work,” Visagie said.
Visagie said as she continued to walk, she was then corned near the Jet Park and Pomona taxis by about eight to 10 men. She said they harshly requested for her phone while they kept asking why she took pictures.
“They took my Z3 Blackberry phone but they didn’t check if there were indeed the pictures that they were suspecting that I took. Unexpectedly, one of the men then started to sjambok me while the others cheered him on.
“The public also watched and did nothing. I didn’t scream, I just stood there, confused and in pain while trying to be strong because if I fell all of them would have kicked and punched me,” she said.
Visagie said after the assault, one of the men swore at her in Zulu saying that she should go away.
Describing her perpetrator, Visagie said he was a bit dark in complexion, had a cap and a mask on with an army green jacket.
“I could’t see his face due to the mask that he had on. I didn’t think that one day I’ll be a victim of gender-based violence, but I thank God that I survived. I don’t even sleep at night anymore because of the trauma.
“Even if I don’t get my phone back, I want him to rot in jail and apologise to me,” said Visagie.
Her mother, Thoko Visagie, said she just wants to see justice taking its course for her daughter and other women who have been abused by taxi drivers but have kept quiet.
Visagie has since been to the doctor and has opened a case of assault at the Kempton Park SAPS.
Mandlakhe Mtshali who’s the chairperson of both the Kempton Park Taxi Association and Santaco’s Ekurhuleni regional deputy condemned the assault of Visagie, and said he was pleased that she has reported the case to the police.
“We would like to extend our sincere apology to the victim for what happened to her because what happened to her shouldn’t have happened.
“Abuse of women, or any commuter is not accepted in the taxi industry. We are so much disappointed and ashamed by the incident because we have trained taxi drivers on how to treat customers,” Mtshali said.
Mtshali has promised to contact the victim to find out where exactly the incident took place but he suspects that the area where the incident took place has municipality cameras so they will use that as part of their investigations.
“We will also cover her medical bills and we’ll also find out from other taxi drivers and queue marshals if they have heard or seen anything on the day of the incident,” Mtshali said.
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