Taxi freeze hits traders, commuters

FOOD vendors, hairdressers, and other small businesses serving the taxi industry are taking a financial beating.

But the vendors were just a part of a bigger picture of the economic crisis painted by OR Tambo District Chamber of Business president Vuyisile Ntlabati yesterday.

Ntlabati told the Dispatch the crisis had hit every form and level of trade, both formal and informal.

“Every business, both big and small, has been badly affected by the taxi violence and the closure of taxi operations in Mthatha.

“This whole crisis has even chased away potential investors and tourists. Nobody wants to set a foot in an area like this. A day lost in a business takes time to recover. Others will not even recover after this,” said Ntlabati.

The Dispatch spoke to some of the vendors to hear how they have been affected by Police Minister Bheki Cele’s closure of taxi ranks and routes in Mthatha 23 days ago.

Some vendors said businesses had been slashed by 80% and others say there is no trade at all.

One trader said they had lost “100%” of their business.

Commuters are also crying foul, saying private motorists who have jumped in to cover the gap are offering rides at inflated fares. Some demand more than double the taxi rate. A ride to an outlying area that used to cost R7 is now R15.

Another woe is that crimes against commuters, now forced to walk in the dark, have increased in number.

Ntombifikile Peter, 50, a mother of four, who has been running a kitchen at the Mamela Taxi Rank for 18 years and employs four people, said she had never experienced such low business volumes. “This is extremely bad. I used to sell 10 or more chickens a day, but now I am lucky if we sell five or even three chickens. It has hit everybody so hard,” said Peter.

Young entrepreneurs Siyabulela Matsotso, 28, and Asevela Mzamo, 29, who run a barbershop, and Yoland Nomtha, 21, and Asive Madikane, 25, who have a beauty shop and hair salon at a rank, were also down in the dumps.

Yet the vendors did not blame Cele for the clampdown, saying human lives could not be compared to loss of business.

● Provincial police spokesman Captain Khaya Tonjeni said they had increased the number of police personnel monitoring Mthatha.

“There is strong police visibility and we are not only making arrests on issues of taxi violence but also on other crimes. Things are under control,” he said. —