[LISTEN] 'Taxis are coffins on wheels': Calls for regulations grow louder amid reports of intimidation

Cape Talk's Clarence Ford asks listeners for their views.

Listen below:

South Africa’s taxi industry is facing renewed scrutiny following several reports of self-created 'rules' not backed by legislation being enforced by taxi associations.

These include forbidding private citizens from giving lifts to hitchhikers and, in some areas, such as Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal, banning teachers from transporting pupils. 

According to a News24 article, the Klipriver Taxi Association has instructed teachers to stop transporting and giving lifts to pupils, even if they are going to the same school.

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Vehicles that violate these so-called rules risk being impounded, with release fees imposed by taxi associations.

Critics argue that such enforcement amounts to extortion and undermines the rights of private citizens. 

Concerns have also been raised about the growing influence of taxi associations over public transport access, particularly in poorer communities where alternative options are limited. 

Amid this unrest, the public is calling for stronger enforcement of existing laws and formal incentives to professionalise and regulate the taxi industry.

"Organised crime, that's what this is... Who gave them the right to tell me what I must do with my car, and who I can and can't pick up and who can be a passenger in my vehicle? Who gave them that right?! Impounding vehicles? Where are you going to put it? What's your plan?" 

- Cape Talk listener

"Anything that's not been gazetted is not law. Taxi associations must take this into consideration..."  

- Cape Talk listener

"If that's the rule of the taxi association, why don't they deal with the taxis that disobey the rules of the road, they hit robots, they speed. We, as citizens, have the right to get to our destinations safely. Taxis are coffins on wheels."  

- Cape Talk listener

"At the end of the day, if there is no law enforcement from the authorities' side, nothing will happen. If we have the same discussion next year, at the same time, we will have the same problems. So, until there are consequences for lawlessness, stopping on highways - just where you want, stopping along roads just where you want, jumping traffic lights, etc, unless law enforcement has the will to stop it, it will continue, and some of the taxi drivers know this, and they will just continue." 

- Cape Talk listener

With public transport being essential for millions of South Africans, the question remains: can the sector be transformed into a safe, efficient and accountable part of the country's broader transport system?

Scroll up to listen to the full conversation.