The law has to apply to taxi drivers
THIS week it was the turn of Gauteng’s commuters to feel the wrath of striking taxi drivers. Recently operators brought parts of Durban to a standstill while protesting about the cost of Toyota’s vehicles.
In Gauteng taxi bosses took to the streets to protest against the agreed repayment instalments on particularly the Toyota Quantum minibuses.
Members of the South African National Taxi Association made sure their protest was felt as widely as possible by blockading perhaps the busiest highway in the country, the N1 between Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The impact was immediate and incredible. Commuters couldn’t get to work and school children couldn’t write their mid-term exams. There were widespread reports of taxi drivers intimidating other motorists, of vehicles being stoned. Trucks were apparently hijacked and used as impromptu blockades.
We have immense sympathy for the plight of taxi drivers, especially owner-drivers who find themselves caught in a vice of debt, competing over incredibly long hours for passengers yet unable to raise their fares in keeping with the rising cost of living.
But this can never excuse misbehaviour and particularly criminal behaviour in any part of the country. Destroying property is criminal, intimidating others is criminal, blocking any road, but particularly highways, is criminal.
Little effort seems to be made to take action against operators who use unroadworthy vehicles, or ignore traffic laws.
On the contrary, the taxi drivers appear to behave as if they are a law unto themselves, with a marked propensity to resort to violent tactics every time they don’t get their own way.
It’s a very different environment to what other protesters experience, particularly with students at our universities. Even during non-violent protests police are quick to take action in a heavy-handed way.
The law is crystal clear. We all have the right to protest, but there are very real rules that govern that protest. It’s high time taxi drivers learnt that too – in no uncertain way.