BARBERTON – Taxi commuters are caught up in a tug of war between the local taxi association and illegal operators, hence their safety is no longer guaranteed.
It was discovered that there are taxis pirating since last Friday.
Also read : Taxi wars over passengers continue in Mbombela
Early this morning commuters were left stranded near Barberton General Hospital after some drivers of the association stopped an illegal taxi operator and offloaded them.
Also read : Taxi violence results in series of protest
One of the commuters, Ms Smangele Motsa said “We were running late to work whilst they were busy swearing at each other. At first I thought the association’s drivers were hijackers as one of them had a panga in his hand.They need to sort out their problems and not affect us.”
The chairman of the association, Mr Michael Sithole said they are doing their best to ensure that the matter is resolved very soon. “Our taxi drivers are complaining that there are people who are operating illegally. They allegedly claimed that the taxis are not registered and they are targeting the local route.
As an association, we started to notice that last week Friday, but we appeal to the community to bear with us as we are trying to resolve this matter.
“We are going to make sure that all our taxis are branded with unique stickers so that the public can be aware that they are using a taxi that is registered not not illegal taxis,” he explained
