Taxi driver gives a glimpse of his world

WITH the list of negative elements in the taxi industry, taxi drivers are known as the ‘hooligans of the roads’ and ‘owmagezempompini’, loosely translated ‘he who bathes using the tap’. A Clermont taxi driver cleared up some common myths.

Interviewing Vusi Ndlovu, who has been a taxi driver for 22 years, was not an easy task as he is well known in the taxi rank and every driver wants to make small talk with him while others interrupt with greetings using his nickname ‘Qina Mshayeli’ as he is the organiser for the South African Public Transport Workers’ Organisation.

Qina Mshayeli is an organisation that deals with drivers’ grievances, which includes taxis, meter taxis, school buses and buses that are not subsidised by the government.

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The outspoken Ndlovu said growing up, he wanted to become a teacher and specialise in History, but life had other plans for him, “No one grows up with a dream of becoming a taxi driver but life does not always prevail the way we want it to.

“When I passed my licence and received my PDP (Professional Driving Permit), I asked for a job from my first employer, Mr Sibisi. At that time, you would drive around with taxi owners who would test you to see if you are eligible to transport the community.”

He said nowadays owners do not test the drivers and he believes that rule should be exercised again to minimise negligence and the high number of accidents.

The reckless driving also began when taxis increased on the roads.

“The increase of taxis means more competition and less ‘loads’ for the driver.”

Frustrations that come with being a taxi driver

Knowing that you are earning peanuts and you have no secure future really gets to the taxi drivers sometimes.

“Unlike other jobs, we won’t be getting any benefits when we retire, that will be the end of us and we are also humans, we have families and children who depend on us.”

Taxi drivers are forever frustrated mainly due to the long hours that they work and the pressure from the owners who want their money at the end of the day.

Road construction and congestion fuels the drivers’ frustrations.

“A driver has to make sure he makes his target, and seeing a congested roads drives us mad, especially in the afternoons when we see that we are not even close to making our daily target.

“My current employer is MJ Ngubane and here in our region, taxi drivers and owners have a good relationship, but there are a few owners who are very cruel out there. Some drivers get beaten and others get dragged with the taxis. “In an incident which happened in Johannesburg, a driver hanged himself because he was short of R200.”

Ndlovu clarified some of the things that we hear often about taxi drivers:

Do you lure ladies with KFC?

Ndlovu laughed when he was asked about drivers and their love for KFC and said, “We do not lure ladies with KFC, most of the time we buy it for ourselves as we do not have time to cook. We wake up at 3am everyday and get back to our homes after 8pm. Where are we going to get time to cook? We do buy other food other than KFC.”

Is it true that you do not take proper showers?

“We have been called lots of words in this industry and the one ‘owmagezempompini’ was given to us because of the long hours that we work, but we do have a proper bath and wear decent clothes. I believe this name was given to us because some taxis park at garages and the drivers use the showers in the garage.”

Do you take some of the cash for yourself?

Often drivers are teased by keeping some of the money for themselves which is known as ‘isokisi’, (sock money). The honest Ndlovu said the money is called isokisi because drivers use to hide the money in their socks so that if the owner checks on them, he won’t think about searching their socks. “But truth be told, that money is legal and drivers do keep some of the cash for themselves to buy food, no one can work on an empty stomach and we do not even get a chance to cook.”

Do you carry weapons?

Ndlovu said some drivers carry weapons because the industry includes violence and they have to protect themselves. “We do not carry them to fight with passengers, but we need to protect ourselves should we get attacked or our taxis get stolen.”

Why do you disrespect passengers?

“We respect passengers but others come with their problems and take them out on us, that is the reason some taxi drivers are rude. I admit some taxi drivers are rude and do not respect other motorists and signs of the road, but we are not all like that, but we always get painted with the same brush. For instance, I always fasten my seat belt but I am sure no one ever takes notice of that.

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