THE chaos involving taxi operators in Pinetown over the past two days has been condemned by the provincial government.
The acting MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, strongly condemned the turmoil that occurred in Pinetown on Wednesday and Thursday (30 and 31 July 2014) when taxi operators confronted Metro police officers who were conducting a roadblock near the taxi rank in Anderson Road, bringing the town to a standstill.
Reports have revealed that a group of taxi drivers confronted Durban Metro police, ordering them to disband the roadblock and leave the area as they were “fed up with being harassed.”
Chaos followed, inconveniencing commuters and police used a water cannon and teargas to disperse protesters. It is believed that two people were shot, one while attempting to disarm a policeman.
Reports that a person had been shot and killed in the mêlée could not be confirmed by Pinetown police spokesman, Lt Bongimusa Manqele.
Dhlomo warned operators against unruly behaviour and said their actions had the potential to destabilise the industry.
“According to our records, there are no legitimate complaints from operators in Pinetown. We believe that this chaos is caused by illegal operators who do not have operating licences.
“The Metro police are well within their duty to arrest any taxi operator who does not have the necessary documentation.
“If these operators have complaints about their operating licences, they should engage officials from our department and raise issues in a civilised manner where we can reach an amicable agreement.
“However, we will not tolerate any acts that will endanger the lives of innocent commuters, law enforcement officers and legal operators. We have since deployed the police in the area until the situation becomes normal.
“As government, our priority is to ensure the safety of citizens and uphold the law; we will deal firmly with lawlessness whenever it arises,” said Dhlomo.
