Everson Luhanga
When they got into a taxi in Alexandra to go visit her family in another section of the township, Pulane Mahlango’s son placed his feet on the seat in front of them.
His mother told her son to remove his feet as it was bad manners.
Strangely, this caused an outcry with the taxi driver who was upset that Mahlango was speaking to her three-year-old son in English and not in her mother tongue.
“The driver asked me why I was speaking to my son in English. He said he didn’t like people speaking English in his car,” Mahlango told Scrolla.Africa.
The taxi driver started insulting her and calling her names in front of other passengers, she said, embarrassing her.
“He told me that I was lost from my roots and I must not teach my son things that don’t identify him,” she said.
The driver later pulled over and told her to get out of his car – as he was not going in her direction anymore.
“I refused to get off the taxi and told him that he would drop me where I was going,” she said.
She reported the incident to the taxi association. The taxi owner and driver came to her family on Monday to apologise for his insults and threats.
Pulane’s mother Lindiwe Mahlango, who works in the office of MEC for community safety Faith Mazibuko, said she was angry when the driver told them he wouldn’t have attacked Pulane if he knew she was her daughter.
“It doesn’t matter who it was. Everyone must not go through what my daughter went through. This was unacceptable but we accepted their apology,” Lindiwe Mahlango said.
She added the taxi driver should be taken off the road immediately.
