Taxi Association deputy chairperson says he is unaware of bad driver behaviour

Taxi driver behaviour has been spiralling out of control as drivers persist in using side roads in Sharonlea.

This often leaves motorists stranded and stuck in gridlocked traffic during peak hours.

Taxi drivers from Malibongwe Drive travel into the suburb along Mahagony Street and then Olive Road and back to Malibongwe from President Fouché Drive.

It is believed they drive through the suburb during peak hours to avoid congestion on Malibongwe Drive within the Sharonlea section.

It has been established that the taxis are from Cosmo City going to the Randburg CBD.

According to motorists from the suburb, their attitudes toward other drivers leave a lot to be desired and driver behaviour poses a danger to other motorists.

They allegedly drive into oncoming traffic and at times threaten motorists who rebuke them, often resulting in road rage incidents.

One of the motorists, who asked not to be named, confirmed that a taxi driver allegedly threatened him with a gun on Olive Road.

He said the driver, on the wrong side of the road, aggressively told him to get off the road.

Read: Illegal taxi ranks sprout up all over Randburg

One of the residents, Mandy Fouché said some mornings, especially when traffic is congested on Malibongwe Drive, they block the President Fouché Drive and Olive Road intersection.

“They drive on the wrong side of the road. Sometimes you can even be delayed by 25 minutes while stuck in traffic,” she said.

Mike Embleton from Central Sharonlea Residents Association (CSRA) said the attitudes and behaviour were better if security guards parked their vehicles along the roads.

“We often deploy our guards to monitor our motorists during the morning,” he said.

He said they were trying to arrange with the association to get this problem solved but some taxis do not have stickers and do not show which association they belong to.

Metro police spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said he has notified the area commander to monitor the traffic flow, especially during peak hours.

Meanwhile, Randburg United and Local Taxi Association (Rulta) deputy chairperson, Daniel Dembe said he was not aware of this problem.

“I will tell the executive committee and we will send patrollers in the morning to check and we will seek a solution,” he said.

Ward 101 councillor Dalu Cele said Metro police have already started monitoring traffic during peak time and promised to continue until this problem was solved.

He said if taxi drivers threatened them with firearms, residents should report it to the police, as crime statistics were also used to determine the allocation of resources in policing precincts.

Also read: Chaos on the roads on Spring Day

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