During the current lockdown, the Department of Transport announced that taxis are permitted to operate from 05:00 to 10:00 and drop off all the outstanding commuters before 11:00 and park, and resume at 16:00 to 20:00 and drop off all outstanding commuters before 21:00 and park. These short hours of operations left the taxi industry and commuters concerned.
Member of the Temba Taxi Association, Mr Sam Baloyi, said he is concerned about the current rule formed against the operation of taxis, he said ‘‘it affects us so bad but there is nothing we can do, a rule is a rule we have to abide by it.”
Mr Tebogo Mmamatshenya, another member of the Temba Taxi Association is also worried about the way taxis are operating during the lockdown, he said, ‘‘this thing of having taxis to operate short hours is really hurting the taxi industry, because sometimes you would find that commuters have to wait at long queues at the mall and the next thing when they want to leave you find that there is no taxi operating.”
Mr Solomon Tlale is one of the commuters who was stranded after shopping at Jubilee mall. He said if he finished after 10:00, he has to wait until 16:00 to get another transport.
“This is too bad, they should extend operating hours because the taxis are knocking off too early and we are affected as commuters. Mr Tlale said.
A concerned taxi driver who wanted to remain unknown said, ‘‘the operating hours given to us are very short, we do not reach our target of the day, so we just work for petrol and we are not allowed to fully load the taxis. Sometimes we are forced to take risks and operate beyond the given hours hustling to reach our target,” he said.
Hammanskraal Taxi industry affected by lockdown rules
During the current lockdown, the Department of Transport announced that taxis are permitted to operate from 05:00 to 10:00 and drop off all the outstanding commuters before 11:00 and park, and resume at 16:00 to 20:00 and drop off all outstanding commuters before 21:00 and park. These short hours of operations left the taxi industry and commuters concerned.
Member of the Temba Taxi Association, Mr Sam Baloyi, said he is concerned about the current rule formed against the operation of taxis, he said ‘‘it affects us so bad but there is nothing we can do, a rule is a rule we have to abide by it.”
Mr Tebogo Mmamatshenya, another member of the Temba Taxi Association is also worried about the way taxis are operating during the lockdown, he said, ‘‘this thing of having taxis to operate short hours is really hurting the taxi industry, because sometimes you would find that commuters have to wait at long queues at the mall and the next thing when they want to leave you find that there is no taxi operating.”
Mr Solomon Tlale is one of the commuters who was stranded after shopping at Jubilee mall. He said if he finished after 10:00, he has to wait until 16:00 to get another transport.
“This is too bad, they should extend operating hours because the taxis are knocking off too early and we are affected as commuters. Mr Tlale said.
A concerned taxi driver who wanted to remain unknown said, ‘‘the operating hours given to us are very short, we do not reach our target of the day, so we just work for petrol and we are not allowed to fully load the taxis. Sometimes we are forced to take risks and operate beyond the given hours hustling to reach our target,” he said.
