A taxi driver allegedly flouting lockdown laws — and a few other rules of the road — abandoned his vehicle and tried to escape on foot when he spotted a roadblock.
Taxi driver with a learner’s license, car disk expired in 2018 caught red handed
— Department of Transport (@Dotransport) April 17, 2020
When police stopped him, he ran away #StayHomeSA #CoronaVirusSA@TrafficRTMC @SAPoliceService @GovernmentZA @SANTACONational @SA_Taxis @JoburgMPD pic.twitter.com/CAM4kE7rPE
The incident unfolded on the N1 near Grasmere.
After an intense chase that led to metro police criss-crossing the highway on foot, the taxi driver was eventually nabbed.
The Johannesburg metro police department discovered he had been driving with a learner’s licence and the taxi's licence disc had expired in 2018.
Metro police impounded the vehicle.
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula was at the roadblock and witnessed the chase.
Caught red handed: taxi driver with a learner’s license, car disk expired in 2018.
— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) April 17, 2020
When police stopped him, he ran away pic.twitter.com/Ab5UUniuPQ
He chatted to passengers in the minibus, expressing surprise at the vehicle's worn tyres and malfunctioning parts.
“So the door doesn’t even open,” he said to them.
