Standoff between metro police and metered taxi drivers continues in city centre

16 May 2016 - 16:14 By Penwell Dlamini

The taxi drivers have re-entered the building in Diagonal Street and are demanding to speak to Gauteng Premier David Makhura over their concerns about Uber taxis which they accuse of taking their business.  The drivers who had earlier assaulted Transport MEC Ismail Vadi as well as an Uber taxi driver after besieging the building‚ returned to the building after metro police allowed them to remove their parked vehicles from the street. This is after metro police issued them with fines for illegal parking and threatened to impound the vehicles‚ bringing in a tow truck as more back-up officers arrived on the scene.Vadi was later sneaked out of the building with the help of police.Earlier‚ he was assaulted by the drivers as he concluded a tour of the operating licences registration unit. As Vadi stretched his hand to one of the men‚ the assault began.He fell on the ground and more men joined the attack.Security personnel in the building were just thrown to the sidelines as the angry men went on a rampage. "What are you doing here?" the men asked as they attacked the MEC.He rose to his feet as he tried to reason with the men‚ but they charged towards him again‚ forcing him to flee for his life.He ran as the men continued to chase him. He found a place he could he could duck into and it was immediately locked.Security guards seemed overwhelmed by the sudden attack...

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