Taxi Associations vs "oMalume" - Turf War Continues...
By: Mfundo Mabaso
Reports suggest that taxi associations bar scholar transport from operating on their route.
A credible source who did not want to be named said she had to use her private vehicle to pick up pupils who were left stranded because the transport driver had not picked them up from school.
“I was driving past a certain school in Umlazi and I saw a friend’s child on the road alongside many other kids walking home. So, what I did was I called my friend as it was at around 16h45 and that is late, to ask her what is going, why is the child walking home instead on being on a scholar transport. She asked me to drive back and check what was going on which I did. I figured that their scholar transport driver did not pick them up from school,” explains the source.
She added that upon probing, the driver explained to them that the reason he did not go to school to pick up the children was because he feared for his life as he had been threatened to halt operations.
Meanwhile, the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) in KZN said they are aware of the ongoing turf war.
SANTACO KZN Office Manager Sfiso Shangase stated that “SANTACO has been affirmed to be an apex structure through the 2022 national Lekgotla, meaning oMalume and meter taxi operators are under this council. This means the council is the top structure which every member must abide by in terms of the rules and regulations which are governing public transport in South Africa.”
Shangase further said scholar transport drivers through their leadership had a meeting with the leadership of SANTACO to understand the dynamics of working under this new concept which is called the Apex Structure.
“We are saying that someone who is in the business of commuting our children should be someone who is legitimate and government has issued for the first-time operating licences for them to be able to operate legally,” added Shangase.
The Provincial department of Transport has called for peace and condemned acts of violence.
Department Spokesperson Kwanele Ncalane said, “nobody has got a right to call them (oMalume) into order and stop them from operating except for law enforcement authorities. Nonetheless, it is a matter that we need to work out very carefully to see how we can deal with it.”
Ncalane has also appealed to parents, saying they need to ensure that in their communities there are oMalume that are operating taxis that are licensed to transport learners because illegal operators are the root cause of this problem.
On the issues of safety for the learners, Shangase has on record said that parents should not be worried as the safety of pupils is of priority in their work. “Our first objective is to ensure that these learners are safe at all cost because we believe that they are our future. That is why we further say, even the vehicles commuting these learners need to be safe and comply with the law, and also the person driving them needs to be of sober state.”
In another case involving a safety campaign by SANTACO called Hlokomela, this unit has been accused of using force to deal with taxi drivers. The KwaZulu Post spoke to Sipho Mlaba (real name hidden for safety reasons) who was a victim of brutality by this body because the taxi was missing a number plate.
“The Hlokomela unit stopped me and upon stopping I was questioned on why I had been running away from them, which I was then instructed to offload my passengers. I was told to get out of the taxi because I was full of nonsense. I was forcefully made to sit down and that is when the beating started: I was slapped and told that I’m uncouth,” explains Mlaba.
Shangase said that the law must take its cause in situations like these because it is not what they stand for as a council.
In finding solutions on the turf war, the KZN Department of Transport confirmed that solutions will be found and they will be engaging both parties to be able to resolve the current crisis.
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