#Letter: Taxis have no right to demand anything from private drivers

Ballito resident E Patterson writes:

It appears the Mafia has taken over our otherwise peaceful ocean community, and no one is doing anything about it. I write as a community member who has been experiencing the conflict of the local Dolphin Coast Taxi Association versus the private taxis, some who drive for Uber or Bolt, and many who do not.

I have two such drivers with whom I’ve developed close relationships as professionals. They literally keep my life and my profession operating. I don’t want a car nor a license, and I live from their availability to drive me on a daily basis.

The Quantums run by the DCTA don’t come anywhere near my house, nor do they go anywhere I need to go, nor can they take me door to door when I have three to four stops. Secondly, neither I, nor any tourist who is visiting Ballito on vacation, has any desire to take a public taxi, which takes hours longer to do anything as opposed to the use of a private car.

The paper has published supremely biased coverage of this issue, which as of today, July 15, has become an emergency. They’ve painted this DCTA as some kind of authority who has the right to extort R600 per month from private drivers to limit the number of them to an arbitrary 25, and to brandish loaded rifles in the public thoroughfare where children, families and tourists are all wide open to being maimed or killed by them as they intimidate taxi drivers.

Today, July 15, at 8 am, I received a text from one of my trusted drivers. He reported being accosted in Ballito moments earlier, saying a red Etios with two men armed with rifles were “terrorising” Uber drivers there, including himself. A number plate was included in that text. It has been established since four months ago when this conflict first emerged, that our local police do nothing about this terror.

The DCTA is not government. They have no authority to demand anything from private drivers or to limit how many can be in Ballito. This past weekend when the Springboks played in Durban, there was no way to get any kind of taxi due to the overwhelming demand. If we were to be limited to 25 private taxis, no one could get a ride.

No, this is a democratic, free market system in South Africa. The man who runs his business the best and gives the best client service, wins. Not mafiosos with a psychotic mental picture of owning our community. This madness must be stopped, right now. No more excuses or delays.

While agreeing wholeheartedly with many of the points raised, I must beg to differ on the “supremely biased coverage” accusation. According to the South African Press Code we must “take care to report news truthfully, accurately and fairly.” To report news objectively we are obliged to report all sides of a conflict, giving each party the opportunity to speak, even (and more especially) when we disagree with them. I refer to the idiom “give a man enough rope…” However, if this is the perception of our readers then I must address it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. More pressure needs to be put on the police and government to protect citizens from those whose flagrant disregard for the law continually goes unpunished. We will continue to publicise the issue until such time.

Letter shortened.

– Ed.

Stay in the loop with The North Coast Courier on Facebook, X, Instagram & YouTube for the latest news.

Mobile users can join our WhatsApp Broadcast Service here or if you’re on desktop, scan the QR code below.