Chaos reigned supreme when agitated taxi drivers from Atteridgeville blocked several streets in the Pretoria Central Business District ( CBD) on Monday morning.
This in demand to speak to the Tshwane Metro Police Department’s (TMPD) Taxi Unit regarding apparent acts of extortion carried out by the TMPD officers on taxi drivers.
The drivers blocked the busy Madiba and Van der Walt Streets near Tshwane Metro headquarters Tshwane House for about three hours, thus causing traffick to come to a standstill in the CBD at around 9am.
“Each time the TMPD Taxi Unit officers impound our vehicles they demand that we pay between R1 500 to R1 800 in cash, yet they don’t issue us with any receipts as proof of payment and this scenario is a clear case of extortion as the officers obviously take the money for themselves,” said one taxi driver who asked to remain anonymous.
“In some instances our vehicles get impounded three times within one week and each time the vehicles get impounded we are forced to pay the said amount in order to get the vehicles back again,” he said.
“In our opinion many, if not all government departments don’t take cash as payment, but require that the person making payment does so by swiping their bank cards,” said the driver.
At around 12 midday armed SAPS members clad in bullet proof vests arrived at the scene of the protest and started dispersing the protesting drivers by using rubber bullets while also arresting some of the protestors who had blocked the road and beating up some of them.
Several taxi vehicles that had been used to block the road were impounded during the skirmish between the SAPS and the taxi drivers.
Some taxi drivers managed to drive away from the scene before they could be arrested and have their vehicles impounded.
“Driving taxis is our source of income and if we stop driving taxis then we will have to do crime so as to put food on the table for our families and also to take care of them,” said another distraught taxi driver.
“The Gauteng Traffic Board always delays in issuing permits yet the TMPD officers are quick to impound our vehicles as we are accused of driving without permits,” he said as he in the process pointed out that Uber and Bolt drivers have been issued with permits while in their case there is still a delay.
The taxi drivers also indicated that they don’t have faith in their taxi associations which force them to pay monthly fees for reasons that are not clear to them.
A statement from the TMPD regarding the protest incident reads as follows:
“As dedicated protectors of our community we will not tolerate lawlessness and violations of the National Road Traffic Act as well as the City of Tshwane bylaws, and those violating these laws will face strict consequences like fines, impoundments and potential arrests.”
In conclusion the statement reads as follows:
“TMPD and SAPS will maintain a strong presence on site until order is fully restored and roads are cleared, and we appreciate the public’s patience and cooperation during the operation to clear the roads.”
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