Battle for public transport: e-hailing drivers under siege

Thamsanqa D. Malinga

During a taxi blockade in Durban, the no-nonsense KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi asked taxi bosses nonchalantly, kuyaliwa yini, yishoni uma kuliwa (have you declared war? Say so if that’s the case).

His question was based on the fact that he knows that taxi bosses understand one language – violence. With that, they understood the might of his force. Their response was quick, “No!”. The whole country was pleased with what they saw on national television, taxi bosses collaborating with law enforcement, something very rare.

The conflict between taxi associations, metered taxis and e-hailing drivers will result in a blood bath, especially in Gauteng.

The MEC for Transport and their counterpart, the MEC for Public Safety, appear to be twiddling their thumbs.

The same goes for their national colleagues. It is a shame. The question I am asking is, must e-hailing drivers shoot their way into the industry?

Must there be bloodbath before action is taken to solve the issue? E-hailing drivers are treated with disdain and forced out off every area, be it a mall, a township, or small town.

All of this is happening while the government is twiddling its thumbs. The Cabinet Security Cluster is glaring in its absence; the country is at the mercy of extortionists. Now taxi associations have joined the fray, not to be beaten by the construction mafia and other gangsters. This is at the expense of the e-hailing industry, which had been bringing convenience to the failing public transport industry, especially in the metros.

A country like ours, with fast-growing metropolitan areas, and a inadequate public transport system, needs other reliable modes to move people around.

What compounds the problem is that in most cities, the Bus Rapid Transit system was marred by corruption – well, that was to be expected as taxi associations are a partner in this, as is the case in Johannesburg.

Now when an e-hailing system like Uber comes into the picture, the taxi associations muscle them out of business using violence and all sorts of intimidation.

First it started off with taxi associations chasing the e-hailing drivers out of the malls in the townships, followed by certain areas in the East Rand. It then escalated to smaller towns like Vereeniging in the Vaal. Of late these taxi associations and their henchmen have upgraded to extortion – they stop an e-hailing driver and tell him that he is not allowed in the area and that the car is impounded and “a fine” is imposed. The so-called “fine”, which ranges from R2000 to R3000, is payable to “the association”, which is usually a group of men who are gathered around in taxi association squad vehicles.

Many e-hailing drivers have parted with cash for fear that their vehicle will be “impounded”.

All the while the Department of Transport, which issues permits to e-hailing drivers, has sat by as taxi associations have taken over its role of custodian of the right to transport people. The police? Well, the word on the street is that when e-hailing drivers report cases of intimidation or extortion, they are asked to present proof, which of course is absent.

The lack of action over the harassment of e-hailing drivers cannot continue – something’s got to give.

Someone, somewhere must act and solve this – unless of course someone higher up is working with these taxi associations.

The extortion of e-hailing drivers by taxi associations has to stop or we could see bloodshed, where e-hailing drivers resort to using the language that some taxi bosses understand.

* Malinga is a director at Mkabayi Management Consultants, a columnist, political commentator and the author of “Blame Me on Apartheid,” and “A Dream Betrayed”.

Cape Times