By Thabo Jobo
The community of Soweto remains steadfast and they are blaming the fatal incident of an e-hailing driver on Tuesday afternoon solely on the local taxi association.
Two e-hailing drivers were shot and their cars torched outside the Maponya Mall in what many have described as an execution style. The motive remains unclear.
It is believed that a passenger was also caught in a crossfire and was rushed to the hospital with the driver of the car they were travelling with while the other driver died on the scene in a burning car.
The situation has raised serious tensions between the community and the taxi associations and further blames the mall’s management for failing to adequately manage the the situation.
According to the community, this is the second incident in two years where the taxis as well as the e-hailing drivers clashed at the same mall and cars even torched. They blame the the taxis for the gruesome act of violence.
Due to fear of being targeted, one community leader said this is disheartening considering the situation how it has been unfolding in recent weeks.
“Firstly the e-hailing drivers were blocked from picking up and dropping of passengers inside the mall by the taxi officials claiming that they have a rank in the vicinity and even paying rent and suddenly we are here today to witness this mess,” explained the leader.
“We are also equally so blaming the management of this mall for failing to adequately deal with this situation and considering that we had a similar violence just last year,” he said.
All the community demands now, he said, is a safe passage for the patrons of the mall and for everyone to feel safe when they visit the Maponya Mall.
Nkosinathi Dlamini, representing the e-hailing drivers said they demand an immediate halt of taxi operations in this mall.
“This is because it is not the first time and we had a similar incident in 2023 and a case was opened with the police and it is still pending. So we are unable to co-function with the taxis because we fear for our safety,” he said.
Dlamini urged the government to ensure that e-hailing drivers are afforded their rights to operate freely and furthermore, those who harass them are held to account.
Gauteng MEC for Transport Kedibone Diale-Tlabela said they have had engagement with the local taxi association, the police as well as the mall’s management and she has been assured that the matter is receiving priority.
“I had engaged STS (Soweto Taxi Services) and they say they are also surprised by the incident and claim they had nothing to do with the incident. The special investigation unit of the police has also been assigned and are currently doing their own investigations as well,” she said.
According to the MEC, further engagements are continuing, to resolve the situation between the taxi industry and the e-hailing services at Maponya Mall.
Image via IOL.
