By Buziwe Nocuze
Driving in Delft township, Cape Town, has become a nightmare, with taxi bosses extorting money from motorists if they have passengers.
Speaking to Scrolla.Africa, one man described how he was pushed around by taxi bosses for having more than three passengers in his vehicle.
“I was with my family going to the mall, and about four taxi bosses stopped me. It didn’t cross my mind that they would ask me to pay money for having occupants in my car,” he said.
He explained to them that he was not an Uber driver, but that didn’t help him.
They asked him to produce ID documents that would show his passengers were related to him. They didn’t have their documents with them as they assumed they wouldn’t need them for the day.
The taxi bosses, he said, ordered him to pay R250. He didn’t have the money and was released anyway but warned he wouldn’t be as lucky next time.
A community leader who wished to remain anonymous said they have been receiving complaints of extortion.
“We have reported the matter to SAPS because if this continues, there will be a bloodbath. Motorists will retaliate because what these taxi bosses are doing is wrong.
“Even those who are using taxis to transport kids only are in trouble. They are charging them
R1,500 to release their cars. They do not have a right to demand money from anyone.”
A resident said the taxi bosses are bullies: “The road doesn’t belong to them; it belongs to everyone that lives in the city.”
Nkululeko Sityebi, the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (CATA) spokesperson, said they have heard the concerns and accusations.
“We have operating licences allowing us to operate the route, and it is difficult to allow other people to come and invade our route while we have the right to operate,” he said.
He said he knows nothing about the money they are accused of extorting from the motorists.
“We check every car; hence the ones driving with their families also get stopped. When we stopped the motorists, we spoke to them, and I do not know anything about the fines,” he said.
Sergeant Wesley Twigg, Western Cape SAPS spokesperson, said the complainants are encouraged to go to their local police station to report the matter so that these allegations can be investigated.
Pictured above: South African Taxi
Image source: @GroundUp
