KANYAMAZANE – According to insiders within the student transport operators, the beef between them and the taxi associations began as soon as the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) started operating and needed transport services to ferry their students to and from the university.

“When this entire transportation started, no one seemed to care, because everyone just thought there was not much money to be made there,” said the source. “The university opted to use the services of private transport operators from the onset, and as time went by, other people became interested in the deal and wanted to be part, but the processes had already been finished,” he continued.

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The source said the real problem started last year, when all of a sudden taxi operators blocked all entrances leading to the university and demanded that the transport student operators stopped their operations.

“That morning as we were transporting the students to the university, we were stopped, assaulted and our vehicles were taken by force. It didn’t end there. The abuse continued until recently when this matter was also attended to by parents of these very students we transport. The parents said they wanted us to continue transporting their children,” he said.

“We have been silent and tolerant enough, and if they want war, we will give them war.” The taxi associations have, however, defended themselves on many occasions, arguing that they should be given first preference since they are the only ones with operating permits issued by the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport.

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Also weighing in on the matter, the MEC for transport, Mohita Latchminarain, made a call to the taxi industry to respect the law. She stressed that the ongoing interference of the taxi associations in the affairs of the university regarding student transportation, was not going to be tolerated.

“The safety of the students between their official student accommodation and the campus in Mbombela, is the responsibility of the University of Mpumalanga, and as such, the university has a right to source transport of their students to the various student accommodation as per their guidelines.

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There is no association that owns public road, and that’s why they are also issued with a permission to operate on certain routes in the province as outlined in the National Land Transport Transition Act. “If taxi associations are going to continue to destabilise and threaten service providers of the UMP, the department will have no choice but to revoke their operating licences,” warned Latchminarain