Bad treatment by the taxi industry was one of the reasons many people in the Eastern Cape resorted to hitch-hiking, the province's transport MEC Ghishima Barry said on Thursday.

Speaking at a "hitch-hiking indaba" in East London, he said the industry in the province had been losing its clientele base.

Many commuters no longer felt safe travelling in taxis.

The industry needed to review the training taxi drivers received in disciplines like customer care and proper driving skills.

People had also been driven to other modes of transport by taxi violence.

"The industry has not made any strides to win these customers back to their minibus taxis," Barry said.
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