Violence unleashed against Gqeberha’s e-hailing drivers
Taxi operators are accused of targeting the e-hailing drivers for “stealing” their customers at Greenacres mall
A taxi waiting for passengers on Govan Mbeki Street, opposite the main taxi rank in Gqeberha. Taxis usually park here to chase away e-hailing drivers who pick up or drop passengers at the popular taxi rank. Photo: Joseph Chirume
- E-hailing drivers operating near the Greenacres Shopping Centre in Gqerberha say they don’t feel safe because they are being attacked and targeted by minibus taxis.
- Taxi operators apparently accuse the e-hailing drivers of “stealing” their customers at the mall.
- In response, Bolt is allowing its drivers to reject rides that start or finish at the Greenacres Mall due to safety concerns.
- Bolt has since identified specific pick-up and drop-off points outside of the mall which are far from where taxi operators park.
No Bolt drivers will be suspended or blocked if they reject rides that start or finish at the Greenacres Shopping Centre in Gqerberha, the e-hailing service provider has confirmed.
This follows e-hailing drivers being assaulted and targeted, allegedly by minibus taxi operators who accuse them of “stealing” their customers.
“My family always prays that I return home safely because the violence targeting e-hailing drivers has intensified,” says Edmund.
He is among dozens of e-hailing drivers in the town who have been attacked in recent weeks.
“We have reached a point where e-hailing drivers are not safe. I was followed by two taxis early in August. I picked up a passenger at Greenacres Shopping Centre and they followed me to the client’s home in Schauderville,” he said.
Edmund was retrenched from the restaurant he worked at for 15 years due to the Covid-19 lockdown last year. He said several incidents involving taxi drivers have occured since he started. One tried to knock his car and another taxi driver once took his car keys from the ignition and forced his passengers to get out. “They wrote down my number plate before returning my keys. I was traumatised because they were using violent language.”
“I wish I could get another job because I don’t know what they will do next if they find me picking up passengers again,” he said.
Another driver, who also fears retribution by taxi operators, recounted how he was attacked in July. “I picked up a family in Summerstrand. I had barely travelled a few kilometres when a fleet of taxis forced me off the road. They took my keys and phone before snatching the R400 I had collected for that day.”
The driver said he now chooses to operate at night when taxis are off the road.
Mzwanele Qwabe of the Uncedo Taxi Association refused to comment. But a taxi driver who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “We only allow e-hailing vehicles in the metro who have valid passenger carrying permits. Traffic police arrest taxi drivers if found without a passenger permit. Why should Uber and Bolt be allowed to do their business without permits?”
Gareth Taylor, regional manager at Bolt, refuted that their drivers did not have the necessary permits. He said that they are aware of the “recent intimidation incidents” against Bolt drivers at Greenacres Mall.
“Every person has the right to earn a living and move around without risk of harm, coercion, or fear of death or injury,” he said.
As a compromise, Taylor said Bolt has identified specific pick-up and drop-off points outside of the mall. “These locations are far from where taxi operators park. Bolt is also asking Greenacres Mall to have clearly signposted dedicated areas for e-hailing drivers and riders,” he said.
Taylor also encouraged drivers to use their safety measures which include an App that shares the driver’s details and location with Namola’s 24/7 call centre, which if needed deploy private security and emergency services immediately.
“Bolt does not have a driver centre in Gqeberha. The platform partners with a local organisation that conducts vehicle inspections and driver background checks for drivers looking to sign up. Drivers have a number of channels available to them to raise any concerns, such as email, in-app messaging, and a phone support line which is available seven days a week,” he said.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu confirmed that a meeting was held with taxi operators on 24 August at the Greenacres Shopping Centre rank to discuss the impasse.
Naidu said both taxi and e-hailing drivers were warned to respect the law. She said more meetings between the groups are expected soon. “To date no cases of intimidation or theft of money have been opened by e-hailing drivers. However, there are allegations that taxi drivers are harassing the e-hailing drivers.” No further details about the meeting were given.
She encouraged victims to report each incident to police, adding that they are monitoring the situation.
Messages and phone calls to Unathi Binqose, spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Department of Transport have gone unanswered since 3 September.
Next: Television pastor and her cronies rake in millions in Lottery grants
Previous: PRASA is building a world-class system, claims CEO
Letters
Dear Editor
On 14 July 2021, there was a shootout in Philippi during the taxi strike in Cape Town. A taxi driver was killed and passengers injured, one shot five times in the leg. In Langa, that same morning, an e-hailing driver and female passenger had barely left the house when both were shot dead.
Gunmen held up another driver in Gugulethu for not adhering to the strike. He persuaded them in Xhosa that his passenger (in front) was a colleague. He paid R100 and they let him go. He witnessed taxi operators in Mitchells Plain breaking an e-hailing vehicle’s side mirror.
Although driving Uber/Bolt/Didi gives one autonomy, it is a risky business. A driver stopped for a youth in school uniform in Mannenberg. The teenager held a gun to his head, then five others hijacked the car. There are reports of a similar set up with a female passenger, at the pick up point. Hijacking cases were reported in Westview and between Plumstead and Lakeside.
In June 2021, a driver was returning from a drop off in Samora, Phillipi, when a man on the street requested a ride to Claremont. 100metres later, two boys under 12 with guns stopped the car and sandwiched him in the back seat while the other man took the wheel. They were planning to put him in the boot to drive to Khayelitsha, but he said the car had a tracker. This was at ten am. They stole his wallet, phone, clothes and shoes too.
The Traffic Department limits the number of permits, and it can take three years to acquire one. The fine for driving without a permit, especially 'in town’, is the extortionate amount of between R7000 and R15,000 (for repeat offenses). Both e-hailing cars and taxis without permits are subjected to fines, but targeting e-hailing vehicles is more lucrative. A driver reported that police threatened to auction the car to pay the fine.
Uber/Bolt/Didi drivers are in a predicament. In order to work legally, they require a permit, yet there are fewer permits issued than meets the demand. Their livelihood depends on accepting trips, yet their safety is at risk.
© 2021 GroundUp. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and GroundUp, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
We put an invisible pixel in the article so that we can count traffic to republishers. All analytics tools are solely on our servers. We do not give our logs to any third party. Logs are deleted after two weeks. We do not use any IP address identifying information except to count regional traffic. We are solely interested in counting hits, not tracking users. If you republish, please do not delete the invisible pixel.