Parents forbidden from driving children to school in Umgababa
The South African National Taxi Council has condemned all incidents of forcing people to take taxis.
A LETTER that was allegedly written by the Umgababa Taxi Association has told parents to stop driving their children to school in their own cars. It also forbids the parents from forming lift clubs to take their children to school but says they should use taxis instead.
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Tu Mkhize posted the letter on Facebook, evoking an uproar from other parents who were not aware of it.
“As it is, we stand for long periods in the mornings, waiting for taxis to take us to work. I shudder to think a similar thing may happen to the children,” said Mkhize.
Most parents who responded to the post indicated that they will not take this sitting down; they will fight it as they allege that the taxi association has been taking advantage of the public for a long time.
The letter also has the association’s stamp on it, but it is unsigned. Both numbers that appear on the stamp were not answered when called. A taxi driver from Umgababa, who is not allowed to speak to the media, said he doubted that the announcement was officially sanctioned by the association as he was not aware of it.
“These letters look like they were written by someone who works at the association’s office, who has access to the official stamp and letterheads, but they might be doing it just to cause unnecessary tensions. I’m not aware of any meeting where a decision like this was taken” said the driver.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has condemned all incidents of forcing people to take taxis. The organisation’s provincial spokesperson, Mduduzi Makhunga, said anyone who experiences such harassment should open a case with the police.
“Taxi operators should not be conducting roadblocks and stopping cars to force passengers into taxis, but then motorists should respect the taxi industry by not picking up hitchhikers to make money,” he said.
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