Gauteng MEC intervenes in meter-taxi ‘turf war’

The Gauteng MEC for public transport and roads infrastructure met with the meter-taxi industry to discuss plans to end a “turf war” with e-hailing services, such as Uber, afflicting the industry.

MEC Jacob Mamabolo said the meeting was part of a drive to stabilise the public transport sector in the province.

Among issues discussed were turf wars between various modes of public transport that often resulted in instability and bloodshed.

“The meeting with this sector, my first in this term, lays an important foundation for addressing issues that relate specifically to the tumultuous relations between metered-taxis and e-hailing services.

“These engagements are quite crucial if we are to integrate all modes of public transport and foster smart mobility,” said Mamabolo.

“For way too long, issues arising from technologies in the public transport have been left to operators. We have put these at the top of our agenda to ensure peace and stability,” he said.

Mamabolo said that Gauteng, while the smallest province with a high population density, was tasked with creating a seamless, integrated system involving all modes of public transport.

He said such services were set to make travelling more cost-effective and convenient.

Mamabolo committed to on-going engagements with the sector in an effort to improve it for the benefit of the people of Gauteng.

E-hailing drivers and owners have demanded that government should intervene in the industry.

They believed the government was not doing enough to protect them on issues such as drivers suffering continued security risks, including deaths, hijackings and robberies.

Uber and Bolt have since introduced systems to protect both drivers and customers.

Regional manager for Bolt in Southern Africa Gareth Taylor recently told Rekord the company condemned any threats of violence towards drivers and passengers.

“Every person has the right to earn a living and move around without risk of harm, intimidation or coercion, or fear of death or injury.

“Bolt is continuously developing safety features and tools that have a real impact on addressing drivers and passengers’ safety concerns,” he said.

Uber said that since its launch, it had actively been working with regulators to help shape the future of e-hailing services in South Africa.

Spokesperson Jill Hazelbaker said in terms of any serious safety issues reported to Uber, there was an incident response team trained in responding to such events.

“The safety of our riders and driver-partners is a top priority. We have a number of safety features available such as access to an in-app emergency button and 24/7 support.”

She said Uber’s incident response team was also available 24/7 to respond immediately to any reported incidents.

A law enforcement relations team was also on call to work with police at any time to respond to urgent incidents.

“We encourage driver-partners and riders to report any incidents of intimidation to Uber and the police to ensure these issues can be resolved,” Hazelbaker said.