E-hailing movement Unity in Diversity has distanced itself from violent attacks on innocent motorists and other drivers who refused to participate in their three-day protest, which entered its second day yesterday.
National spokesperson Vhatuka Mbelengwa told the Pretoria News that criminal elements had infiltrated their peaceful demonstrations and attacked other drivers, putting a stain on the name of their organisation.
Videos and voice notes have been circulating on social media about e-hailing drivers attacking colleagues who were working during the first and second days of the shutdown. A police officer was also attacked in Pretoria on Tuesday after he was mistaken for an e-hailing driver.
The protesting drivers want the government to usher in a policy to regulate their app partners such as Uber, Bolt and InDriver and curb “exploitation” because cheap trips were killing their ability to earn a living.
They also want the app companies and the government to implement measures that improve their security on the job.
Mbelengwa said the movement extended a call to the police to act swiftly and arrest anybody who caused chaos and disruptions because there was never an instruction from the movement to the members to be disruptive and violent.
"If you look at the violent incidents that occurred, they do not do so primarily where our demonstration is. On Tuesday, there was an incident in Pretoria, but it was not committed by people who were with us.
"We just heard about it and we became surprised because from where we were, everything was peaceful. We seriously condemn this violent action," said Mbelengwa.
He said the organisation was respecting its commitment to the Gauteng Department of Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure to demonstrate peacefully, following a meeting with MEC Jacob Mamabolo and other stakeholders.
Mamabolo had said the movement had agreed to demonstrate peacefully to ensure there was no damage to state infrastructure and people's properties.
He said problems could only be resolved by negotiation where stakeholders could find one another. This was the same principle he preached to driving school operators who eventually stopped shutting down testing centres and reached a consensus with the Road Traffic Management Corporation who were responsible for the online system they opposed.