Durban - E-hailing drivers have allegedly been forced not to operate in certain areas in Durban.
Recently, commuters were up in arms as a notice allegedly from the Umkhumbane Taxi Association in Mayville stated that Yotaxi was the only e- hailing service allowed to operate in Mayville.
Yesterday, an e- hailing driver, who did not want to be named, claimed they were told they were not welcome in Chesterville and Mayville.
He said that last month he had been driving into Chesterville with a friend who was going to collect something from a relative.
“It was at the taxi rank. They flagged me down to stop, which I did, and when I went to them they told me that we were not welcome and only Yotaxi was to operate. I told them the person in the car was not a client but my friend whom I was accompanying.”
He also told them he had seen the taxi association notice doing the rounds on social media, but was always cautious with things being circulated on social media due to fake news.
“They said Taxify, Taxi Live and Uber were no longer welcome in the area. They told me to return to them with my friend so that they could verify he wasn’t a client, which I did,” said the driver.
He claimed he had experienced a similar incident in Inanda where they wanted him to pay a fee of R5 000.
“I pleaded with them and I ended up not paying the R5 000. All e- hailing drivers know what’s happening. We are stopped from operating in Inanda, and some e- hailing drivers are assaulted in the process”.
South African National Taxi Council ( Santaco) spokesperson Sfiso Shangase said the notice was not signed, making it unclear who issued the directive.
“We will have to verify whether the notice truly came from the said association. Yes, the association’s letterhead is there, but we have no guarantee it was issued by the association.
The matter of e- hailing services is still being discussed. It is law in South Africa that anyone in the business of transporting commuters needs to have a permit to do so, and the government is still in the process of formalising the functioning of e- hailing services. At a recent Lekgotla, it emerged that the service should go under the Apex structure, and Santaco is still busy discussing this,” said Shangase.
He said current discussions were around permits for e- hailing services based on how their permits would work as they operated with an app, while taxi operating permits were based on routes, and e- hailers operated all over.
“We are currently in an industrial revolution where technology is playing a role, which means that the taxi industry also has to adjust. We are all for e- hailing, but it must be made clear how these operate under current laws that also govern the taxi industry. It is important that the e- hailing service is governed so that commuters are safe using whichever mode of transportation they choose,” said Shangase.
The Daily News