Wanatu halts operations amid dispute over impounded vehicles

The e-hailing service, Wanatu, has temporarily halted its service after the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) impounded three of its vehicles due to permits.

TMPD spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba confirmed that TMPD impounded three Wanatu vehicles in Centurion after they were found to be operating without permits.

Mahamba said it was part of an ongoing operation that targeted not only Wanatu cars but all vehicles operating without permits as stipulated by law.

Wanatu vehicles impounded

In the meanwhile, Wanatu, which loosely translates to ‘where to’, has temporarily suspended its service and has accused the TMPD of unlawfully impounding its vehicles and intimidating drivers.

Wanatu CEO Judith van der Walt said they valued laws and regulations and added that attempts had been made to secure our permits.

“Our vehicles are licensed and roadworthy, and our drivers hold valid PDPs. However, the current backlog on permits is an issue faced by all e-hailing services, not just Wanatu.”

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City of Tshwane MMC for Roads and Transport Tlangi Mogale said TMPD and other law enforcement authorities must also be allowed to carry out their law enforcement responsibilities without fail or interference.

Mogale said they remained committed to resolving all issues concerning all public transport modes in the city and affirmed the commitment to treat all e-hailing companies in the city fairly. And also said they would create a conducive environment for them to operate within the ambit of the law.

“The daily impounding of their vehicles by law enforcement authorities was one of the bones of contention, along with the licensing backlogs, which has been escalated to the Provincial Crisis Committee on public transport operating licences to resolve,” she said.

MMC commited to dealing with e-hailing challenges

Mogale reiterated her commitment to deal with the challenges faced by the e-hailing community and added that her department convened a meeting with the operators on 12 December 2024 at Ou Raadsaal Council Chamber in Pretoria Central to listen to the complaints by e-hailing operators in Tshwane.

“Part of the resolutions of the 12 December 2024 meeting was to provide feedback on 23 January 2025 on some of the measures being put in place to resolve the impasse. Instead of coming to the meeting to find solutions, the e-hailers decided to march to Tshwane House with political parties, Build One South African (BOSA) and uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK)-aligned civic movement (PCC), to politicise the matter,” she said.

A local e-hail driver, Sipho Sekoati, said the industry should make peace with the fact that technology had taken over and there were areas and routes they couldn’t service.

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Sekoati said many times commuters miss important meetings or interviews because they had to take multiple taxis to one destination.

“They (taxis) should come up with a strategy on how they can work together, as sometimes they can make it easy to allow drop-offs from Uber drivers,” he said.

Sekoati said nobody was stealing customers or commuters, adding that different clients had different needs and the right to choose the form of transport they felt comfortable and safe with.

Taxi association has it’s own target market

National Taxi Association spokesperson Theo Malele said Wanatu had its own target market.

“It may not necessarily have an impact on the taxi industry significantly. It is safe to say that colour and suburbs were domestic workers who were assisted by their employers to utilise the system; this is where I see it having an impact on the taxi industry in terms of market share, but there’s nothing we can do about it; it’s part of the competition as the market diversifies,” he said.

Malele said the industry had to stay competitive and ensure they look after their commuters.

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