Durban taxi owner angry over driver who beat passenger, will fire him

“I can confirm that the registration is my taxi. It is a long distance taxi that travels from Berea to the Eastern Cape.”

This is according to Velaphi Gumede, chairperson of the Ntuzuma Taxi Association, who owns the taxi that was seen in a video, where a female passenger was violent assaulted.

In the footage, the woman is slapped, pulled and dragged by the driver. It was shared on social media and has since gone viral. Gumede spoke to News24, saying he did not condone such behaviour.

“I am going to meet with… [the driver] later today, he has been working with me for more than five years, and this is the first time I have ever heard of such an incident. I would like to apologise to the public for the behaviour displayed by my driver … He should have not done this at home or at work,” Gumede said.

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“If he does admit that it was him, we are going to part ways because it is my name that is on the taxi. Our taxis have LV initials on them, and that is my reputation, I do not want to be associated with violence.”

Provincial deputy chairperson of the South African National Taxi Coalition Bheki Mbambo told News24 he condemned the incident.

“To hear that a taxi driver has done that is embarrassing. It is disgusting that he has beaten a woman, not that we are saying men must be beaten [as well],” Mbambo said.

Watch the video below

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