Taxi Patrollers Force Passengers out of Pre-Arranged Private Transport, SA Furious
- The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) slammed taxi patrollers in Tshwane, Gauteng, who targeted privately hired transportation and left passengers stranded
- An incident happened on 4 April 2025 in Refilwe, Tshwane, where armed people wearing taxi association pulled the passengers out of the taxis
- The alleged patrollers accused the transport of taking business from them, and one of them said members from the Refilwe Cullinan Taxi Association stopped them days before the incident
Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated Briefly News current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of international and local social issues like health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests and immigration in South Africa during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.
Source: Getty Images
REFILWE, TSHWANE — The South African National Taxi Council will investigate an incident where workers who were travelling from work to Refilwe in Tshwane on 4 April 2025 were left stranded on the side of the road after Refilwe Cullinan Taxi Association patrollers forced them out of their privately hired taxi.
What happened in Refilwe?
According to SowetanLIVE, residents of the township of Refilwe in Cullinan had organised transportation with a service that allowed them to pay a fixed monthly fee. However, members of the Refilwe Cullinan Taxi Association started harassing them on 1 April. The patrollers stopped vehicles and checked whether the passengers were from the taxi rank.
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On 4 April, the workers were on their way to work from the township when armed patrollers belonging to the association abruptly stopped their taxi. They forced them out and compelled them to go to the nearest taxi rank. Some of the passengers eventually hiked at a distance away from the rank.
What did SANTACO say?
SANTACO's Tshwane spokesperson, MacDonald Makata, denounced the patrollers' actions as illegal. He said SANTACO will not allow an arrangement where passengers and motorists are bullied. He slammed them and accused them of thinking they were bigger than the organisation.
Similar incidents
In October 2024, SANTACO caused a stir when it announced that motorists were not permitted to pick up hitchhikers without permission. This was after Mpumalanga taxi patrollers had harassed motorists who gave lifts to hitchhikers. SANTACO's Mpumalanga chairperson, Fanyana Sibanyoni, said that motorists giving passengers lifts infringes on taxi operators' rights.
One month later, on 30 November, armed taxi patrollers from Mpumalanga hijacked a school transport owner who was contracted to transport children from a high school. The patrollers stopped his taxi and forced him and the learners out. They forced the driver to drive to the Malalane taxi rank, where they took his keys and demanded R15,000 to release it.
Source: Getty Images
What did South Africans say?
South Africans commenting on SowetanLIVE's Facebook post were not pleased with the taxi patrollers' actions.
Davitha Mu Ha Di said:
"Taxi operators do as they wish in this country with no punishment."
Pappa Phume said:
"As an individual who owns a property in this industry and also work in it daily, I find this behaviour unfair and nonsensical."
Mandisi Izzy G Nqandela said:
"Everyone should have the association office number where they usually travel with loaded vehicles. The clowns are not allowed to do that. Don't waste your energy even if a taxi driver fights with you on the road. Just take the registration and check the sticker. It will tell you where the taxi is from and go to their offices. They will deal with their employee."
Kellz Mtshumeni said:
"The country cannot depend on an industry that stives on hooliganism and has zero discipline."
Lesetja Ke Mokone said:
"In Tembisa, they even stop workers travelling in a bakkie with no intention of going to the taxi rank."
Tax turf in Braamfontein
In another article, Briefly News reported that SANTACO was worried about turf wars in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, after two taxi owners were among three people who died during a gunfight in March 2024. A university student was caught in the crossfire.
The cause of the gunfight remained unclear, and another student was injured during the shooting. South Africans on social media were concerned about the rate of taxi violence.
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Source: Briefly News
