Taximen try to disrupt bus service rollout

Angry taxi operators blocked sections of Stanford Road and burnt tyres shortly after Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip launched the Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS) yesterday.

Police spokesman Warrant Officer Alwin Labans said between five and six taxis attempted to block bus routes, mainly in the Gelvandale and Korsten areas, at midday.

Leading up to the IPTS launch, Stanford Road had a heavy police presence to minimise disruptions.

“There were a group of taxis attempting to disrupt and block the bus routes,” Labans said.

“We were dispatched to several scenes relating to the blocked roads, but when we arrived the taxis would move to another road.”

In some incidents, tyres were burnt in the road to block commuters.

“These fires were extinguished and the road cleared,” he said.

“The taxis then moved to another road and continued to try to disrupt operations.”

By 2pm, the roads had been cleared and the public order policing unit, metro police and police were on the scene.

Stanford Road – from Beetlestone Road and Kobus Road – was littered with huge rocks.

“So far, there have been no reports of damage to vehicles or injuries related to the buses,” Labans said.

Four people, aged between 24 and 35, were arrested for public violence and will appear in the Gelvandale Magistrate’s Court today.

Kevin van Aswegen, from the Algoa Taxi Association, said he was not surprised that protests broke out as “people are hungry”.

“What happened on Friday when the mayor was here launching the ticketing system was that a lot of taxi owners took their vehicles into the depot and drivers haven’t been driving since then, meaning there’s no money coming in,” Van Aswegen said.

Shaun Padayachee, from a group of concerned taxi drivers and “guardjies”, said his colleagues distanced themselves from yesterday’s events.

“There’s a gangster element to this whole thing,” he said.

“There are taxi drivers who are gangsters or gangster-affiliated, but we as the concerned taxi drivers and guardjies had nothing to do with this.”

Chris King, from the Northern Areas Taxi Operators’ Association (Natoa), said as far as he was concerned, none of the taxi owners belonging to the association were involved.

King is also chief executive of Spectrum Alert – the IPTS vehicle operating company.

“I’ve tasked the secretary of Natoa to round everyone up to convene a meeting with taxi drivers and find out what their grievances are,” he said.

“The drivers are not members of the association – we only deal with the owners.” Followed by a convoy of police vehicles and a hippo (police armoured vehicle), the mayor also officially opened the IPTS bus depot along Stanford Road before taking a ride with members of the public on a bus from Cleary Park to City Hall.

Speaking at City Hall, Trollip said the system had cost the metro billions of rands and a lot of that money was unaccounted for due to the previous administration.

He said even though there had been delays in the project, delivering a working, feasible project was much more important.

Once the system was up and running, the project would be expanded to Njoli and Motherwell.

King said it was a historic day for the taxi industry, especially in the northern areas.

After travelling from Cleary Park in the commuter service, he said the actual work was starting now.

King assured taxi owners that participating in the project would be beneficial. He said being involved was not compulsory but rather worked on a voluntary basis.

“All involved in the industry in the northern areas – the associations involved – they are all being taken care of as far as employment is concerned.

“Whatever you do you will not be able to satisfy everybody, but we are working to ensure everybody is being taken care of unless individuals feel that this programme is not for them.”

Sikhosonke Mani, from Cheshire Homes in Salsoneville, who is in a wheelchair, commended the bus service for being easily accessible.

“Sometimes I want to go to town but because I know that taxis are not wheelchair-friendly, I won’t go,” he said. “The city needs to provide more stops, but otherwise it’s great and I am very comfortable.”

Mani’s only criticism was that his wheelchair was not clipped to the bus even though there was a seatbelt for attaching the wheelchair to the bus.

Dinoleen Kerspuy, from Salsoneville, said the bus was comfortable and relaxing, and she would be using it as it was cheaper than a taxi.

Mayoral committee member for transport Rano Kayser said it was unfortunate that people had tried to disrupt the service.

“Any person with concerns should use proper channels of engagement instead of damaging property,” he said.