Image used for illustration. Picture: Michel Bega
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has warned motorists to avoid picking up hitchhikers on taxi routes.
This follows a recent confrontation in Mpumalanga where taxi association patrollers allegedly drove off with a motorist’s car, demanding R2 500 to release it, after he offered to give his neighbour a lift.
Santaco says unlike motorists, taxi associations have permits that authorise them to transport passengers along certain routes.
Speaking on 702, Santaco chairperson in Mpumalanga Fanyana Sibanyoni said the association has the right to stop private motorists from picking up passengers along designated taxi routes.
“Picking up people on the road is our business. We have a licence to do that, and they [motorists] don’t have a licence to pick up people,” Sibanyoni said.
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He further reiterated that motorists “are violating [our] right” by picking up passengers without permits, claiming this is unfairly taking business away from taxis.
According to Santaco’s national spokesperson, Rebecca Phala, taxi patrollers are meant to safeguard the wellbeing of commuters and not interrogate motorists.
“Interrogation that gets to be done by some patrollers to a civilian is not their mandate. They’re not supposed to be doing that,” she said.
Phala, however, added that motorists should not load hitchhikers in their vehicles.
“The message we want South Africans to understand is, if you just load people just because you’re trying to get petrol money or something, it’s wrong. You’re not supposed to be doing that.
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According to the Sowetan, a Mpumalanga man became a victim of taxi patrollers after they reportedly took his car and demanded a R2 500 fine to return it after he gave his neighbour a lift.
The motorist, Themba Mahlangu, had travelled to Mbombela for a car service on Thursday, accompanied by his neighbour, who needed to address tax-related matters at the South African Revenue Service offices. After the car service, Mahlangu waited for his neighbour so they could head home, but as she was getting into the car, taxi patrollers allegedly seized his keys and drove off in his vehicle.
“They took my keys and drove away, insisting I pay R2 500 to get my car back,” Mahlangu explained.
“It’s frustrating – they treated me like a criminal for simply giving my neighbour a lift.”
Mahlangu went to the police station and informed officers about his car’s location, but they allegedly refused to help, saying “We don’t deal with taxi-related matters.”
Mahlangu called his brothers for assistance, and together, they confronted the patrollers. However, his brother ended up paying the R2 500 before the car was finally returned that afternoon.
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