Taxis in fight over route on the R81 road
Taxi drivers between Giyani and Malamulele are fighting for ranking rights on the R81 road between the two towns.
The battle between Malamulele and the Giyani taxi associations is over the sharing of taxi routes, according to information from two taxi drivers from Giyani who did not want to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media. It is alleged that the Giyani Taxi Association wants a share of a route that was initially operated by the Malamulele Taxi Association alone. This route runs via the R81 and ferries commuters from Giyani to Malamulele and back.
The Giyani Taxi Association argues that Malamulele is situated in another municipal area and district and that they pay their tax in Malamulele. Therefore, they cannot fully own a taxi route in another municipality where they do not pay tax. The agreement between the associations was that one taxi from Giyani must deliver its load to Malamulele and return empty. The same procedure was agreed upon for taxis to Malamulele.
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They would take in a load from Malamulele and then return empty. This deal, however, was under review during the Malamulele Taxi Association’s roadblock protest last week Monday. The Giyani Taxi Association allegedly wanted an agreement that would see taxis from Giyani permitted to pick up passengers from there so that it does not return empty. The same is true for Malamulele taxis; they would deliver their passengers to Giyani and then be permitted to transport another load from Giyani back to Malamulele.
This offer was apparently rejected by the Malamulele Taxi Association and is said to have caused tension between the taxi owners from the two municipalities. “We’re in Mopani, and we pay our taxes here; how do you explain a taxi from Vhembe operating in Mopani but paying its rates in Vhembe?” said one of the taxi drivers, a member of the Giyani Taxi Association who asked to remain anonymous. “We’re doing the same thing with people from Bushbuckridge Municipality and other areas where we operate.
When our taxi gets there, it is exchanged with another taxi from that area that comes here to deliver and fetch commuters back to Bushbuckridge,” said another taxi driver. The taxi bosses from both sides could not be reached for comment by the Herald. The spokesperson of the SAPS in the province, Brig Hlulani Mashaba, confirmed the road closure by Malamulele’s taxi drivers and that it was taken care of by the police. No one has been arrested as yet.
