Pretoria - A taxi minibus owner drove his vehicle out of the Koedoespoort transport pound east of Pretoria on Friday afternoon, after paying the fine imposed in police clampdown on the industry.
“I have paid R500 fine for this car. It was impounded because they (police officers) said the driver’s PDP (professional driving permit) had expired. Yes, it had expired,” said the taxi owner who declined to give his name.
“I made the payment on Tuesday but I didn’t have the documents required for release of the car. I brought those documents this morning. They wanted the registration of the car to prove that it’s mine and the CF (certificate of fitness) and a copy of my identity document.”
The taxi owner said life was tough when he was plying his trade on taxi routes in Mamelodi.
“I am taking my car because it is my bread and butter. It affects me immensely when my taxi is not operating. Everything comes to a standstill. I have grandchildren that I am taking care of,” he said.
Around 50 taxis which service the Mamelodi area were still in the pound on Friday afternoon. The area had been tightly guarded by different units including the SA Police Service and the Gauteng Traffic Police.
Taxis were operating normally in Mamelodi on Friday after they had totally suspended their operations on Thursday following a police operation in the area.
On Thursday, the Mamelodi Long and Local Taxi Association warned that taxi services across Gauteng would be shut down if the impounded minibus taxis were not urgently released.
The association’s Stemer Monageng told reporters taxi operators across the country could join the protest.
“The problem is that the government doesn’t care about the people using taxis. It only cares for people using buses,” said Monageng.
“If one uses a bus, there is a subsidy and there is no subsidy for one using a taxi. People pay R10 when using a bus and R14 when using a taxi.Today our focus is on the release of those vehicles which were impounded.”
Monageng said the issue regarding Autopax taking over bus routes previously serviced by Putco was no longer a problem after a deal was reached with local authorities.
Violence erupted in Mamelodi last week as taxi operators sought to block Autopax buses from operating in the area.
Government reacted by implementing the controversial Operation Fiela, which resulted in roadblocks and searches. Numerous minibus taxis were impounded during the operation.
ANA