Eastern Cape taxi operators are operating illegal roadblocks where they subject motorists to extortion, according to Transport MEC Xolile Nqatha.
In a statement at the weekend, Nqatha called on law enforcement agencies to act against those who continue to impersonate traffic officers and hold illegal roadblocks.
He warned that those who continue to be involved in these activities would face the full might of the law.
“We cannot allow a situation where we have an illegal law enforcement structure that runs parallel to what our government seeks to achieve, tormenting and extorting money from our people,” he said.
“The public outcry about these illegal roadblocks has been heard, and the additional crime of extortion that is often at the core of these has been taken in.”
Nqatha challenged taxi industry bosses to take a stand against these illegal acts that are said to be carried out by their members.
“The few individuals involved in these may dent the image of the entire taxi industry,” he said.
Zola Yolelo, provincial chair of the SA National Taxi Council, accused the MEC of refusing to work with the taxi industry.
He said the taxi association used to work with the police and traffic department during roadblocks. “The police or traffic department are not the Holy Spirit, they are not everywhere at the same time.”
“Our presence serves to alert the police when the law is broken, not that we are trying to be the police.”
As for shaking down motorists: “If there are some of our members who have done that, I am not defending them,” he said.
Yolelo said they were just being helpful. “When we see a Corolla is full of people, and it does not have a permit, we hold it so that traffic officials and the police can deal with it.”
Motorists say taxi operators use these illegal roadblocks to check for hitchhikers. They allege that taxi operators demand to see that the identity documents of the passengers in the car show the same surname. If passengers are found to have different surnames they’re forced to pay a fine to the taxi operators.
Nonzukiso Hala, who recently became a victim of such an incident while travelling to Gqeberha from Mthatha, said no amount of talk will solve this issue.
“It’s been going on for years; it will never stop. The police don’t do anything about it. We already know what to expect during December holidays and Easter weekend. Taxi operators are even arrogant about it because they know they won’t be arrested for it.”
Another motorist said this was because some of the taxi bosses are police officers and so they won’t do anything about the situation.
Provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana, said the police are monitoring the situation and urged members of the public to report such activities to the police.
Pictured Above: Transport MEC, Xolile Nqatha, addressing law enforcement officers during a roadblock
Image source: Eastern Cape Department of Transport
