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| Drivers caught in taxi war speaks out |
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Sipokazi Maposa May 10 2007 at 11:50AM |
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Taxi drivers operating on the volatile Kraaifontein route say they have become "soft targets" in the renewed taxi war despite their non-involvement in the bloody tussle between taxi rivals.
At least 22 people have been killed and 38 injured in taxi-related shootings across the province in the past few weeks. Most of the victims were drivers and passengers. A driver said they "gambled" with their lives every day so they could feed their families. "There are days when you wake up in the morning and you don't know if you are going to make it back home," said a Kraaifontein taxi driver, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal. He has been operating between Bellville and Kraaifontein since 2000 and earns a commission-based wage of between R500 and R600 a week. A father of two - a three-year-old boy and a six-month-old girl - claimed that drivers were being killed to show which group had greater power to control a particular route. "Our lives have become valueless. We are being maimed as if we are the ones at fault. Taxi owners hardly drive their taxis - they always have drivers. "We have become soft targets and there's no one to defend us. "My wife has repeatedly asked me to quit the industry, but I've refused. This job is my life - I've never done any other job except being a driver. Where am I going to get another job if I quit this one? "I have to take the risk and just pray that nothing is going to happen," he said. Simo Soga, 21, who also operates on the route, said it was "scary" to be a taxi driver when taxi wars broke out. He's been a driver on the route since July after not being able to find a "formal" job after finishing school. "It is really unfortunate that we've become victims here because we are not the ones fighting. "We are just normal employees who are trying to make a living. "It's very frightening because we are just caught in the middle. "I had to find employment to support my parents and the taxi industry was the only one that could provide me employment without needing experience," he said. Soga called on the authorities to resolve the conflict before "innocent" people died. "We are scared because we get shot anywhere - at intersections even in our own homes. We are not safe. Something needs to be done to end it," he said. Passengers interviewed said they were also at risk and were being inconvenienced by the conflict. Myolisi Magibisela, who travels between Kraaifontein and Khayelitsha often, said commuters continued to put their lives on the line because taxis were quicker than other public transport. "The fear is always there. What the industry doesn't understand is that these fights affect us more than taxi operators. "We are caught in the middle of a conflict that has nothing to do with us. "When you get into a taxi you don't check if it's a Codeta or Cata, you just want to get from one point to another. "We also get inconvenienced by using too many taxis to one destination. "It would be nicer if you get into a taxi and it takes you to where you want to be instead of fighting with each other," he said. A Kraaifontein commuter called Khaya said she had a 45-minute walk from Old Paarl Road to Cape Gate and back as taxis had stopped using the route after a taxi war there in 2005. Two weeks ago she dodged bullets after shooting broke out near the mall when a taxi tried to "steal" commuters there. "I wish they would just stop fighting so that we can have taxis to Cape Gate again. This is unfair to us," she said.
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