- Since early August, Khayelitsha commuters going to Somerset West have been dropped at Makhaza and pay for a second taxi, and say they are cutting back on food and airtime.
- The CODETA taxi association says it is sorry, the government is trying to settle its dispute with CATA over the route, and it expects CATA to take passengers all the way to their destinations.
Khayelitsha commuters who travel to Somerset West say they are paying much more for taxis since a dispute between two taxi associations changed their route.
Since early August, taxis have dropped passengers at Makhaza instead of at their destinations. They then have to pay for a second taxi.
Nolungisa Gobongo, 46, said she pays R17 from Site C to Makhaza, then R25 from Makhaza to Somerset West. On the way home it is R25 back to Makhaza and R17 to get home. That is R42 each way, or R84 a day.
She said the change came as a shock, and most passengers do not earn much.
Gobongo said she knows about the dispute over the Somerset West route. But she said CODETA, the association she travels with, should have warned its passengers and not surprised them. She said it has told them nothing.
She said the food she buys no longer lasts a month, so she has to borrow money. Before the change, it did.
Sinazo Sawutana, 37, said R87 a day for two taxis to Somerset West is too much. She said salaries do not cover costs, and passengers should not be dragged into the associations’ problems. She hopes a solution is found soon.
Sawutana now struggles to put money aside for airtime and data. The money she used to set aside goes on transport, so she only talks to her siblings on social media, using the WiFi at work.
She said CODETA is their association and it must fix the problem.
CODETA chairperson Nceba Enge said the government is trying to settle the dispute with CATA over the Somerset West route.
He said CATA taxis pick up passengers in Somerset West and drop them at Makhaza, where CODETA taxis take them to their destinations. “We are sorry for the inconvenience,” he said, adding that the association knows it is hurting passengers financially.
Enge said CODETA expects CATA to take passengers all the way to their destinations, so they do not pay so much.
Gobongo’s fares add up to R84 a day, while Sawutana said R87, so I kept each figure as they gave it.
