WHAT started off as a fun outing soon turned into a nightmare for a young Pietermaritzburg woman when she allegedly found herself in “a dangerous situation with an e-hailing driver”.
Zhanay Jazmin Joseph, 22, was returning to her Northdale home from her father-in-law's house in Bombay Heights when she was allegedly accosted by the driver. At around 1pm Joseph requested for the e-hailing cab and a yellow Renault Triber arrived to fetch her.
She said it was only after she had jumped into the vehicle did she notice that the driver appeared to be intoxicated. She said she became fearful after she noticed his odd behaviour.
“I realised I was in danger a few minutes after jumping into the taxi. The driver appeared to be highly intoxicated and was driving on the oncoming lane. He was also attempting to clean his vehicle while driving. He was throwing dirt out of the window and on to the street. He was also driving extremely slowly at 15km/h in the oncoming lane. He also shot through the red robots,”said Joseph.
“As we approached my destination, he refused to drop me off at my house and wanted to leave me on a nearby road. This was quite a distance for me to walk. He then reversed on the oncoming lane and nearly hit into another motorist,” said Joseph.
She said she pleaded with him to take her home but he became more difficult and unreasonable.
“He proceeded to tell me that it was his petrol before swearing at me. He said ‘you Indians take advantage of us’ and then ordered to leave his car,” added Joseph. She said when she told him that she would report the matter to the company's head office, he became violent.
“I told him I would record what was going on. He then jumped out of the vehicle, took out his phone and started recording me. He said I did not want to pay him his fees. He then pushed me and said he would assault me until he got his money's worth,” she said.
He then followed Joseph to her house where he allegedly created a scene before calling for his brother for back-up.
“I left the fare on his seat but he refused to take it. He just kept asking me for money. I had to get security to deal with the matter as he refused to leave. I then ran into my yard for safety and phoned my dad for help. He called the local security company to help me,” said Joseph.
She said the driver refused to leave her driveway for 15 minutes until the security van arrived. The self-employed baker said she had always used the e-hailing service, but had not faced a situation like this before.
“I always use this e-hailing service because it is convenient. I have had minor issues with them in the past but not like this experience,” said Joseph.
She said she had since reported the incident to the company’s head office.
“They contacted me a few minutes after the incident occurred to apologise and said they would deal with the matter. They said they would try their best to ensure I don't see that driver again. They have refused to share any information about what measures were taken against the driver,” said Joseph.
She said her complaint closed after 24 hours and she would have to open another "ticket" to pursue the matter further.
She said she was traumatised after this incident and hoped her story would alert others to be more careful before just jumping into such cabs.
The company did not respond to email queries.