Taxi-owning cops behind violence in the transport industry – MPs

E-hailing drivers are the targets of violence because some members of police and other law enforcement agencies are involved in the transport industry. This was revealed by the chairperson of parliament’s transport portfolio committee, Donald Selamolela, during the economic cluster media briefing on Monday.

Selamolela was responding to questions by transport stakeholders, including associations of e-hailing drivers and meter taxi drivers among others. He said that transport issues are also security issues, but that the management and ownership of taxis by law enforcement officials was interfering with efforts to impose order on the transport sector. There was reluctance to enforce certain measures, he explained, because doing so harmed the earnings of these taxi-owning cops.

“The Land and Transport Management Act does not allow certain people to be role players in the industry. The time and moment has come to say it ends now and that is what we will be doing,” he vowed.

Attacks on e-hailing drivers

Western Cape E-hailing Association chairperson, Siyabonga Hlabisa lamented unauthorised roadblocks set up by taxi associations with no consequences from the law enforcement agencies. “I have been informed of a case in the Delft area where they have confiscated a car from an e-hailing driver. They usually ask for R1,500 release fee. They give you a couple of hours and if you fail to come up with the cash, they put sand in your car engine. We are confused by how people are allowed to conduct unauthorised roadblocks,” he said.

E-hailing drivers also face threats from their customers. Sibongiseni Shange, the deputy president of South African Meter Taxi and E-Hailing Association asked parliament to regulate e-hailing apps like Uber to ensure that riders are obligated to include their profile picture as one safety measure. “You find out that the safety of the driver is compromised by the rider. Currently, there is no obligation on the part of the rider to be identifiable. The driver doesn’t know who the rider is or looks like. In our submission, during the amendment bill and regulations, we did submit that the drivers need to be able to identify the rider,” he said.

On the brutal attack on Mlungisi Mvelase, an e-hailing driver who was shot and burned in his car, Selamolela indicated that parliament hopes to resolve conflict in the sector by bowing to the demands of taxi associations and to regulate e-hailing drivers – principally through the National Land Transport Act (NLTA). Selamolela said that the taxi association in Soweto “took issue with individuals without credentials posing as e-hailing drivers to make a commission, frequently at uncompetitive rates. The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) echoed this sentiment and noted that the NLTA is essential in the current situation where unregulated operators have become commonplace”.

Regulation of e-hailing industry

Selamolela told parliament that there is new legislation being introduced to better regulate the e-hailing industry. “Under this legislation, e-hailing drivers will no longer need to use charter permits and meter taxi operating licenses and instead [will] receive an official e-hailing operating license. Vehicles will also carry or be branded with a sign indicating they are e-hailing vehicles, and their licenses will indicate the geographic areas in which they are approved to operate. Drivers will be vetted and subject to criminal record checks under the new regulations, and a professional driving permit will also be required,” he said.

A recent report by the International Alliance of App-based Transport Workers (IAATW) exposed exploitative conditions that app-based workers in sub-Saharan Africa face. Also, Elitsha reported that South African unions lag behind their African counterparts in organising e-hailing workers, with drivers in countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal having already been unionised.