MBOMBELA – Several motorists have raised grave concerns about taxi officials who allegedly harass them for assisting community members with lifts.
This has been an ongoing frustration which was started by taxi officials who harass commuters for hitchhiking. Of late, kind motorists have been feeling the pinch as they are reportedly forced to pay a fine by the alleged officials who target hitchhikers along the R40 to Barberton, Lydenburg/Mashishing Road, N4 to Malalane and towards eMalahleni.
One of the irked motorists, Mr Raymond Nthani told Mpumalanga News that at some point he was stopped by two taxi drivers on the Barberton Road who had seen him giving a woman a lift.
“They forcefully stopped me and demanded that I pay a R800 fine and when I refused, they threatened to beat me up. We argued for almost 45 minutes and I ended up giving them the last R200 I had,” Nthani said.
He added that the taxi they were driving sported Top Star Taxi Association branding. Nthani was not the only victim to have been harassed by drivers belonging to this association.
Ms Adelaide Mthunzi also claimed that she had to part with R500 for being a good Samaritan.
“I swear I will never stop for any person asking for a lift because it’s not safe. I don’t know what would have happened to me that day if I didn’t have the money because those rude drivers were so aggressive while demanding that I paid the money. They said they were teaching me a lesson for acting like a means of public transport and for killing their business,” she said.
A colleague, who lives in Mashishing was recently also a victim after he had taken in two passengers heading from Mbombela towards Mashishing. He was stopped by the alleged perpatrators who demanded a fine of R200, but he argued that his passengers’ fee would not even cover the fine they demanded. He ended up paying them R100 and was allowed to proceed.
Meanwhile, the MEC for communit
y safety, security and liaison, Mr Vusi Shongwe condemned the ongoing taxi patrols for harassing community members, who were often seen next to the road asking for lifts from motorists.
Shongwe said he had noted that these patrols had the tendency of forcing hitch-hikers to use minibuses at nearby taxi ranks even when they did not want to do so.
According to the MEC, these actions were illegal. He said they were practising this on their own and should refrain from harassing ordinary members of the public. In essence, he stated that their actions constituted vigilantism because they were not transport inspectors or law-enforcement officers.
“The responsibility to patrol roads resides with law enforcers and public-transport inspectors. The patrollers should rather raise their concerns with relevant authorities.
Although we are not encouraging members of the public to stand on highways and ask for lifts, we cannot condone vigilantism that comes in the form of taxi patrollers wrestling for passengers with private vehicle owners,” the MEC said.
Shongwe also warned motorists not to stop where it was not safe or where they were prohibited by the road signs. He added that those who were operating their vehicles for profits without the necessary permits and who were caught, would face the full might of the law.
Shongwe argued that these patrollers were violating the rules by forcing people to make use of their taxis. He said the passengers had a right to decide on their travel arrangements or means of public transport.
The MEC was concerned that this had a possibility of causing conflicts and tension between private motorists and taxi drivers. He added that this could cause severe injuries and deaths while they battled over the hitchhikers with private vehicles.
Shongwe explained that there was no law stating that commuters were bound to use taxis only as their means of transport. He emphasised that people had the freedom and choice of using any type of transport when travelling to their destinations.
The MEC warned the taxi patrols stating that law enforcers would be deployed in various areas to ensure the safety and security of the community members.
Responding to these allegations, Top Star’s secretary, Mr Muntu Gama said the taxi industry was frustrated by motorists who pirated in the name of kindness.
“These people, including police vans and truck drivers, give people lifts for money and we are not going to allow that. It’s killing our business because we wait for commuters at the taxi rank the whole day and no one comes, just because they have other means of transport which is not permitted to ferry commuters,” said Gama.
He added that taxi drivers knew there were drivers who made people pay for lifts, because at some point they disguised themselves as hitchhikers.
When they asked a lift from a police van, the driver demanded a fare for the
ride.
-
-
-
-
