A Bhekulwandle resident outside Amanzimtoti claims she was a victim of harassment by taxi drivers.

She recalled a recent incident where she found herself in a roadblock that had been set up by taxi drivers who were, according to her, forcibly removing all passengers in private cars, telling them to make use of minibus taxis.

Sonto Mthethwa, who works in a shop in Doonside, and catches a lift in her sister’s car every morning when going to work, said she was left stranded when taxi drivers blocked the car, saying no passenger was allowed in a private car driving out of the area.

“I felt so violated and I was late for work. We tried to reason with them, explaining that I was not a hitchhiker, but we are siblings, and we live in the same house, but to no avail,” said Mthethwa.

After being told to get out or have the car impounded, she said she had no choice but to get into a minibus taxi. She added that the taxi industry’s real problem lies with e-hailing services, but that they are taking their anger out on innocent people.

“I understand that one cannot tell the difference between an e-hail taxi and a regular motorist riding with passengers and going about their business, but that does not mean the whole community has to be harassed. I may not always have taxi fare and instead catch a lift with my sister or neighbour. So if I’m being forced into a taxi, how am I going to pay?” she asked.

The South African National Taxi Council’s (Santaco) provincial spokesperson, Mduduzi Makhunga, said the organisation does not condone actions by taxi drivers where they stop private cars and force passengers into taxis.

“While we condemn the actions of our drivers, we ask motorists to respect the taxi industry as well and not pick up hitchhikers. If you have people with you in the car, you shouldn’t be stopped, but if you stop and pick up passengers because you want to make some money on the side, then that is a problem,” said Makhunga.

Asked if Santaco has a problem with e-hailing services, Makhunga said they have challenged the e-hailing companies in court because they are taking away from the taxi owners’ livelihood.

“In this country, there are laws and one of those laws says to operate a taxi, you need a permit. Now, all of a sudden, there are these companies that are enabling just about anyone to run a taxi without a permit, and that is bound to cause problems,” he said.

While Santaco has no problem with technology and making people’s lives convenient, Makhunga said laws should apply to everyone uniformly.