Taxi fee increase irks Mthwalume commuters

Taxi commuters using the Mthwalume Taxi Association are not pleased with the fee increase that came into effect on July 1.

On Tuesday, disgruntled commuters, led by the Women of Mthwalume organisation, met with the Mthwalume Taxi Association committee, asking them to reverse the fare increment.

Before July 1, Mthwalume residents commuting to Port Shepstone used to pay R27 per trip, and now with the R2 increase, they pay R29.

The chairperson of Women of Mthwalume, Nombuso Sibisi, said that with the current cost of living, it is hard coughing up close to R60 per day when going to work.

“We are here to plead with the taxi association to hear our cries and reverse the increase. As everyday commuters we can’t afford the extra R2,” she said.

Meanwhile, the chairperson of Mthwalume Taxi Association, Bhekumuzi Gumede, said it is not them who decide when and how taxi fees should increase.

Gumede said it is the South African National Taxi Council that guides regions relating to increasing fees.

He explained that the Mthwalume Taxi Association transports commuters to Port Shepstone, Umzinto, and Durban.

He said that in increasing fees, they added R2 for Port Shepstone, R3 for Umzinto, and R5 for Durban.

“We found that it is only the Port Shepstone commuters who are complaining about the increase. We do hear and understand them when they say the economy is tough and there is no money, but we are also controlled by the fact that July is in the middle of the year, where we see how much the price of petrol has gone up,” he said.

Gumede added that they realised that most of the people complaining about the increment live along the N2 in Mthwalume, who are used to hiking – not catching a taxi at the rank in order to get it cheaper.

He said the taxi association recently deployed security guards along the N2 in Mthwalume to stop such hikers.

“So, the complainants are the people who were mostly inconvenienced by the deployment of those security guards. They are used to paying R20 or even less per trip,” he said.

He added that they told the commuters that they would consider their request, should there be changes, they would be informed.

He said if there are no changes, commuters would have to accept that there was nothing the taxi association could do.

However, Sibisi said that should their plea fall on deaf ears, the outcome would be dire.

“We would be very disappointed if the association does not consider our request. This means that as the community we would have to mobilise and go out to demonstrate our frustration so that even those who are behind the ever-increasing petrol price know the effect it has on the general public,” she said.

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