Patrol squad up in arms against illegal taxis

BARBERTON – The taxi patrol squad of the Barberton Taxi Association is up in arms against illegal taxi operators.

This publication learnt that this operation of illegal taxis is getting out of control after a number of residents who were retrenched from the local mines and from the department of correctional services quit their jobs and got into the taxi industry.

The chairperson of the association, Mr Michael Sithole said they have had enough of the pirating in this township.

“There are people that are known in the community who quit their day jobs and have become taxi owners. They are all not registered and are operating illegally. Illegal operation also endangers commuters’lives. As part of ensuring that our commuters are always safe and they are using public transport that is registered, we have introduced a patrol squad. They are monitoring all the taxis that are operating illegally, ”said Sithole.

Mpumalanga News also learnt that motorists are complaining about traffic jams, especially along De Villers Street.

“When we started with the patrolling squad, we discovered that there is a high volume of the illegal taxis that are using that route which causes a traffic jam, but now we are dealing with this matter in a good manner since we are getting used to our strategies,” said Sithole.