Taxify dumps driver after 'kidnap' terror

Online taxi service Taxify has removed a driver from its mobile app after he was accused of abducting a Cape Town woman on Monday evening.

Taxify spokesman Marilin Noorem denied the woman was abducted and said the incident was an "unfortunate misunderstanding" between the rider and the driver on the route taken.

"The driver is blocked from our platform until we have talked to him in person and trained him additionally," Noorem said.

"Safety of both our drivers and riders is our priority.

"The incident is very complicated as the driver and the rider [are] telling slightly different stories.

"We can confirm there was no abduction and the rider was in no danger at any given time," Noorem said.

His summary of the incident was in contrast with the account given by marketing assistant Yonela Makoba, 23, who claimed the driver took her in the opposite direction to her home in Kenilworth.

Makoba said she pleaded with the driver to take her back to the collection point, but he wouldn't.

She was eventually able to escape from the vehicle in Epping Industria when the driver stopped unexpectedly on the side of the road.

She walked to Pinelands, where she was able to find another taxi service that drove her to her friend's house.

Noorem said their drivers were instructed to follow the suggested route in the app and would ordinarily be expected to continue to the client's chosen destination should the trip end before the destination is reached.

"The driver ended the ride only when there was an argument, but he should have dropped the client at her selected destination and not insisted on taking her to her initial destination," said Noorem.

Makoba planned to report the incident to the police on Wednesday, but couldn't because she suffered a panic attack as a result of her ordeal.

"I was not imagining this. The actions of the driver prove he had other plans," the marketing assistant said.