High-tech fix for taxi drivers behaving badly

TAXI passengers fed up with reckless drivers — or wanting to praise good service — can now file reports directly to the owner of the minibus involved.

From tomorrow, Durban commuters can use an SMS application to submit complaints or compliments.

The app, developed by Umlazi entrepreneur Brian Mbambo, will be launched when the South Africa National Taxi Council, KwaZulu-Natal, introduces its “Wiser Driver, Commuter and Owner” campaign.

An occasional taxi passenger, Mbambo said he understood that people did not have the time to visit taxi association offices to file complaints.

The 100 taxi drivers taking part in the project have been given reflective jackets to make them more visible at night should there be breakdowns or accidents. Mbambo said about 30 taxi owners were involved in the project.

“Owners are actually against overloading because it damages their vehicles and reduces the life span of their taxis,” he said.

“We want to put the responsibility on the owner. If the driver is rude to commuters, the owner must say, ‘Come on, bra, this is my business’.”

Mbambo said the organisation also wanted to offer incentives to drivers and owners. One of these could be prizes for the most improved drivers.

A spokesman for the project, Sifiso Shangase, said the council hoped to extend the service beyond KwaZulu-Natal. THE South African couple whose decomposing bodies were discovered in their apartment in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, last month apparently died from a deadly cocktail of drugs.

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