Woman opens criminal case after Pretoria taxi driver's 'sex demands'

20 August 2020 - 15:44 By Iavan Pijoos
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
The passenger was alone in the vehicle with the driver when he allegedly made sexually offensive remarks. Stock photo.
The passenger was alone in the vehicle with the driver when he allegedly made sexually offensive remarks. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/Yuri Bizgajmer

A woman commuter has opened a case with Pretoria police against a taxi driver she accuses of accosting her sexually.

.

Tintswalo Chauke said she boarded a taxi in the city on Tuesday morning and was the only passenger. The driver allegedly began making sexually offensive remarks to her, then exposed his genitalia.

“I asked him numerous times [to stop the vehicle so I could disembark] ... He told me that I was being stubborn.”

Chauke took a recording of the incident. The video has since been widely shared on social media.

“He snatched my phone as soon as he saw that I was taking a video of him. We wrestled over my phone till I eventually got to snatch it.”

She fled the vehicle when the driver stopped at a red traffic light.

“I was terrified because anything could've happened. I could've been raped, or worse killed and dropped in a ditch somewhere.

“I thought about my mom and son who I know wouldn’t be able to cope should I go missing,” she said.

Chauke said she lodged a complaint at the Moot police station in Pretoria on Wednesday.

“I would really appreciate it if the police found him and justice would be served because if he was capable of doing such in a taxi, while driving in broad daylight, imagine what he is capable of doing in the dark.”

Police spokesperson Capt Mavela Masondo confirmed that a case of crimen injuria was opened at the station and had since been transferred to Pretoria central for further investigation.

No arrests had been made.

SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) national spokesperson Thabiso Molelekwa said a meeting would be scheduled with the chairperson of the council in Tshwane on Thursday.

“We want an urgent meeting with Mamelodi associations to determine between the two which one employed the driver.

“We condemn this in the strongest terms. In fact we want to engage with the lady,” Molelekwa said.

TimesLIVE

LISTEN | Social development deputy minister defends comments that cancer contributes to GBV

Subscribe for free: iono.fm | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Player.fm


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now