Taxi commuters fear for their lives

Paying customers are powerless to abusive drivers

OVERLOADING, drunken driving, road accidents, disregard for the rules of the road and driver aggression are among the concerns facing taxi commuters, according to a survey conducted by the South African Institute of Race Relations.

The survey, titled Public Perceptions of Taxi Use, Safety and Crime, was aimed at highlighting the experiences of people who travelled by taxi.

It revealed that KwaZulu-Natal had the highest threat of unsafe drivers,with commuters mostly concerned about being involved in accidents.

On average, about one in two, or 50% of national taxi commuters had witnessed or experienced some taxi-related transgression with 52% saying they had seen or experienced a road accident for which a taxi driver was responsible.

In addition, 49% believed drivers were aggressive; 50% felt overloading was a problem; and 49% and 48% raised concerns about drunk driving and not obeying the rules of the road, respectively.

The spokesperson for the South African National Taxi Council, Thabisho Molelekwa, said the report had given them insight into passenger experiences.

“When a taxi leaves the rank, everything may be in order. But what happens along the way is unknown to us. It is only the commuters who can be our eyes and ears. We therefore encourage them to report their experiences to us, good or bad.”

Molelekwa said the council would embark on a countrywide roadshow to ask passengers about their concerns.

He said they are providing new drivers with training “to teach them the importance of obeying the rules of the road”.

Drivers who committed minor defaults, he said, would undergo rehabilitation programmes to teach them where they went wrong.

According to Arrive Alive, 36 lives are lost daily on the country’s roads. Of this number, three deaths are taxi-related. The organisation’s advocate, Johan Jonck, said the industry was estimated to have a turnover of more than R16.5 billion and that the government had taken considerable steps to regulate the industry.

This, he said, was done in the best interests of public safety and to transform it into a more profitable business.

Jonck said taxis were often perceived as unsafe. “The manner in which they drive and their attitude toward passengers are, in most cases, aggressive.”

The spokesperson for the North Beach Taxi Association, Hassan Sheibes, said drivers were required to undergo “safe driving testing” to work for them.

“Disciplinary hearings are held every Thursday and if a driver is found guilty of a transgression, for example, smoking, he will have to pay a fine of R100. For verbally abusing a passenger, it’s between R200 and R500. If the offence is serious, a driver could be suspended or expelled.”

He said each taxi had a telephone number stuck to the inside of the vehicle so passengers could lodge complaints. Sheibes advised that passengers record the taxi’s registration details.

The spokesperson for the Phoenix Taxi Association, Basha Sooliman, said every effort was made to caution its drivers about road safety.

“We urge the community to report bad driving to us, as well as drunk driving or aggressiveness. We are not in the taxis with passengers, so we don’t know what is going on.”

Last week, the owner of a Phoenix taxi issued a public apology after his conductor was captured on camera physically assaulting a passenger and swearing at him. It is alleged the passenger had asked for his R33 change, which led to the conductor slapping him.

Shaun Govender posted an apology on behalf of Slim Shady Tours and confirmed that the conductor was no longer employed by the company.

During a clampdown by the metro police K9 unit in Mobeni and Chatsworth’s Higginson Highway recently, 22 fines were issued. Chatsworth taxi drivers, bound for the Durban CBD, were pulled over and found to have on board between five and 15 more passengers than they should have been carrying.

A micro-bus travelling on the Higginson Highway had passengers sitting on the floor, while others were standing next to the door.

It was certified to carry 22 passengers and was overloaded by eight. The driver was taken into police custody after it was found that a warrant of arrest had been issued for a R3 500 unpaid fine.