Durban - Angry Chatsworth residents have vowed to stand firm in the face of pressure from the local taxi association which is threatening to stop lift clubs and school transport operators.
Nearly 100 residents, operators and parents met in the Bayview Community Hall yon Sunday to vent their anger at what they say is intimidation.
The meeting was sparked by an advert in a community newspaper on December 2 that said from next year public transport in the south Durban suburb would be restricted to Chatsworth Minibus Association members.
The advert read: “No private vehicles (taxis) will be allowed to commute passengers in Chatsworth. Scholars that are using private (taxis) to travel to schools need to contact the Chatsworth Minibus Association to arrange transport… The Chatsworth Minibus Association are the legal custodians of Chatsworth and therefore any vehicle that is not affiliated to the Chatsworth Minibus Association will not be allowed to operate in the magerstrical (sic) district of Chatsworth.”
But local councillor, Brandon Pillay, told the meeting that nobody would be stopping lift clubs or people transporting children. He said the community had threatened to retaliate by stopping taxis from the Chatsworth Minibus Association should it try to enforce its diktat.
He said they had engaged with schools and had received their support.
“People are angry. In no uncertain terms will they allow their children to take taxis to school.”
He said this was motivated by parents not wanting their children to experience the bad things they did in taxis. Pillay said the taxi association had not been invited to the meeting.
This was so they could organise themselves before their meeting with the association.
A committee was formed including members from across Chatsworth to talk to the association later this month.
Vice-secretary of the Chatsworth Minibus Association, Leon Loganathan, said what they were doing was being done in oThongathi, Verulam and Phoenix and that they had not threatened anyone.
“We will not tolerate private cars (operating as taxis) in an area that we are working in… They are taking a major chunk of our business away,” he said.
Loganathan said the private cars had no formal paperwork, were unregulated because they did not belong to any association, and were unsafe as they were often overloaded.
“As a taxi association, we are governed by law,” he said.
Loganathan welcomed the formation of a committee that would engage with the association on the issue.
It was reported last month that oThongathi residents had been threatened and assaulted by taxi drivers who forced them to use taxis.
The residents said the intimidation extended to lift clubs and school transport.
At Sunday’s meeting, Michelle Govender, said: “My husband transports children to school.
“Some of those children have special needs.” She said many private drivers took the role of parents with the children, and when the children became sick the parents called them for help.
Govender said drug use by drivers and conductors was one of the reasons parents did not want their children in taxis.
Another resident, who asked to stay anonymous, said he had been intimidated by taxi people in the past.
“They chased me on Higginson Highway. I was boxed in… The passengers were terrified,” he said.
He said they seized his vehicle and demanded he pay a fine of R5 000 for its release.
Daily News
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