Gauteng roads and transport MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela is confident that meetings between stakeholders will bring about an end to the violence between the taxi industry and e-hailers.
“I just want to say to people of Soweto and people of Gauteng, that we now have things under control and we just have met with the Soweto e-hailers organisation,” she said.
She said she had met about 16 organisations, the centre manager and taxi associations on Monday.
This comes after e-hailing vehicles were attacked last week at Soweto's Maponya Mall, resulting in the death of Siyanda Mthokozisi Mvelase, who had been a driver for only three days. Two other people were injured.
Maponya Mall centre manager Jo Morobe said there had been tensions between e-hailers and the taxi industries and the centre had been trying to resolve them. Morobe said they had been engaging e-hailing operators, taxis and the community since 2020 to prevent clashes.
Gauteng National Taxi Alliance spokesperson Theo Malele condemned the violent acts but admitted that lawlessness exists among some operators.
“It's sheer thuggery. We encourage the public to report such incidents to authorities. We cannot be a law unto ourselves. At the same time, e-hailing operators need proper leadership because there is a lot of fragmentation. Some vehicles on the ground aren’t linked to e-hailing or taxi services, creating lawlessness,” said Malele.
Diale-Tlabela said the provincial government has platforms where all operators can engage, but there is often a gap between leadership and people on the ground. She called on e-hailing operators to organise themselves.
Diale-Tlabela also acknowledged the trauma caused by last week's incident, saying that what happened was a “new type of conflict”.
"We need law enforcement to investigate and give us proper feedback. We are working to strengthen security with cameras and ensure everyone entering and leaving the mall is identifiable.”
She urged unity across the public transport and e-hailing sectors. She said that there will be challenges.
“We are confident we can arrive at a point where operators work together, share experiences and transfer skills. The taxi industry knows our stance and is cooperating. E-hailing drivers are new, some have been forced into this after losing jobs and they need proper grooming and support. As a government, we are committed to helping them so that operations can continue safely.”
TimesLIVE
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