EDITORIAL | Repeated attacks on e-hailing operators point to unresolved issues

South Africa woke up to the news that a person was killed and two others injured when e-hailing vehicles were attacked at Maponya Mall in Soweto on Wednesday evening. There were allegations that the attack was linked to ongoing tensions between the minibus taxi industry and e-hailing operators.

However, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in Gauteng has distanced itself from the e-hailing attacks at the mall.

The attacks seem to have spurred the community near the mall into action. Community members called for the mall to remain closed until a resolution is found to the conflict between the minibus taxi industry and e-hailing operators.

The attacks on e-hailing drivers are nothing new. In July, TimesLIVE reported that e-hailing drivers in Johannesburg alleged assault and robbery by taxi associations, with their earnings forcibly taken. The Johannesburg Metro Police Department also said it was aware of violence between minibus taxi drivers and e-hailing drivers working for Bolt and Uber.

Sithembiso Dlamini, who started working as a Bolt driver in June, told TimesLIVE he was assaulted and robbed by men who claimed to be from the taxi industry.

Dlamini had dropped off a client when two men holding sjamboks approached him and allegedly pulled him out of the car. 

They told Dlamini he was taking their clients and he should give them all his money or they would destroy his car and beat him up. 

“I had to give them all my daily earnings. I could not risk them destroying the car that was not mine.” 

JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla said last month that taxi violence remained a serious concern for law enforcement in Gauteng.

Fihla said JMPD was working with the Gauteng department of community safety, police service, national traffic police and traffic police to find ways to protect e-hailing drivers and passengers.

“The strategies include intelligence-led operations, increased visibility and swift responses to reported incidents.”

Fihla said it was illegal for anyone, including taxi drivers, to harass, threaten or stop Bolt and Uber drivers. He said penalties range from fines and impoundment of vehicles to imprisonment, depending on the nature and extent of the crime.

The repeated attacks on e-hailing operators point to an unresolved issue regarding the regulation of the e-hailing industry. After the incident on Wednesday, Santaco called on government to implement the amended National Land Transport Amendment Act regulations in the e-hailing services sector. The amendment aims to regulate and manage the transportation of public passengers for reward.

The national department of transport said on Thursday it was implementing the national land transport information system, which will ensure that operating licences are linked to the eNATIS system to eliminate the unlawful usage of one operating licence for more than one taxi vehicle.

Santaco said many e-hailing drivers operated without government-authorised permits and expressed concern about the continued illegality and lack of regulation in the e-hailing services sector. 

“The current structure of e-hailing platforms does not enforce the requirement for these permits, leading to a flood of unregulated operators within the public transport space,” Santaco said. 

The concerns of minibus taxi operators about unregulated e-hailing service operators are valid. However, this does not mean operators should take the law into their own hands or use violence against e-haling operators.

The taxi industry has, over time, used violence to parcel out territory. We've seen how parents have been bullied at schools during drop-offs and pick-ups by taxi association patrollers. They would even go to the extent of trying to verify that parents with more than one child were indeed the parents of the extra children. 

Regulations will address some of the problems we are facing with the taxi industry that is trying to monopolise the public transport sector.

Members of the public are also affected by the violence as their lives might be in danger. However, the transport department should move with speed to gazette and implement the Land Transport Amendment Act and the Transport Appeal Tribunal Amendment Act regulations. 

This will ensure there is proper regulation of the e-hailing industry. The department said the regulations have been approved and await the second official language translation for gazetting and implementation.

The gazetting of the regulations should happen soon. In addition, police should take a no-nonsense approach against those who attack others. They should ensure their investigations bring those who are behind the attacks to book, and the courts should not be lenient against those found guilty of these crimes.