WORLDWIDE TAXI FOCUS from South Africa


PASSENGER KILLS CABBIE FOR FAILING TO STOP AT DESTINATION


A taxi passenger has killed a cabbie for failing to


stop when


requested. As the taxi was approaching his destination, the passenger alert- ed the driver that he wanted to get off. But the driver said the place was a no-stop area and continued driving. Within minutes, the driver lay dead inside his taxi while the passenger was nowhere to be seen. The taxi was from Pinetown headed to Durban in KwaZulu-Natal province and was travelling on the N3 Southbound when the incident happened. It is said that the taxi driver started hurling insults at the passenger which angered the suspect. It is alleged that the driver told the commuter that the taxi wouldn’t stop where he wanted because of certain rules about stops on the road. However, it was the manner and tone that the driver used that allegedly aggravated the man. A KZN police spokesperson said: “When the taxi eventually stopped, the passenger pulled out a gun and shot the driver who died on the spot. A case of murder has been opened.” The suspect fled the scene and is currently on the run.


DRIVERS DESTROY UBER CARS FOR OFFERING CHEAPER RIDES


Angry taxi drivers in the Eastern Cape have smashed and overturned several Uber cars, wreaking havoc in a parking lot, over-turning the cars as if they were toys. Prior to the incident, three Uber drivers had been arrested by the police for violating traffic laws and offering cheaper-than-permitted rides to airports. Photos show a VW T-Roc and a Volvo XC40 on their roofs, with their logos suggesting that they were leased to be used by Uber. Other cars and SUVs were also vandalised, with shattered windows and broken


PHTM JUNE 2023


mirrors. The van- dalism was alleg- edly caused by a group of enraged taxi owners and drivers. According to


reports, the incident was sparked by an Uber driver giving the middle finger to local taxi drivers while breaking traffic laws, leading to his arrest by police. Beyond the recent incidents of Uber cars being trashed, it’s clear that there’s been a long-standing tension between taxi syndicates and Uber drivers.


AND FINALLY: If you think the potholes are bad over here, spare a thought for this Durban cabbie....


Water from a burst pipe washed away 200m of soil under- neath a road in Morningside, Durban last month, resulting in a minibus taxi plunging into a deep sinkhole. Themba Mvubu, who was at the scene, said the pipe burst after heavy rains the previous day. “Upon arrival we


noted that an Engineering,


Stormwater and Roads team had already arrived and started doing repair work which included excavation,” he said in a video posted on Facebook. A breakdown tow service vehicle found itself in a similar position to the taxi it was attempting to tow, when it also fell into a sinkhole. A second breakdown vehicle had to assist both vehicles out of the sinkholes. “A minibus taxi was travelling on the Earl Haig Road with just the driver and one passenger when the taxi fell into the sinkhole. Luckily no one was injured,” said Mvubu.


Mvubu said the city workers laid a new water pipe for the water supply to be restored to the community. He said an excavator was then used to fill the sinkholes.


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