Taxi marshals prevent commuters from using buses during off-peak hours

Drivers for Thari Bus Services and commuters in Madibeng municipality in the North West have been in conflict with taxi operators who are demanding to take over their routes during off-peak hours.

The tension has caused panic among drivers who are intimidated by taxi marshals when they work beyond 8am, while commuters are forced to pay more if they use taxis.

Both modes of transport work side-by-side during peak hours — 5am to 8am and 3pm until late — but now taxi operators want buses to be parked between 8am and 3pm.

However, the bus company is vehemently against these demands.

The matter came to a head this week when a video emerged on social media showing taxi marshals stopping a bus and intimidating passengers, telling them to disembark and go to taxi ranks in Maboloka and Letlhabile near Brits.

Speaking to Sunday Times’ sister publication Sowetan, the driver, who asked to remain anonymous, said they are caught between listening to their bosses or conceding to the taxi operators’ demands.

“When they stop us [taxi marshals] they tell us they’ve an agreement with Thari, and they have agreed that we will work only during peak hours. This has been happening for some time now,” he said.

“Yesterday and today we were told not to work during the off-peak hours, but our supervisor Pule Peters told us that there is no such agreement. That is why we are worried, because you never know what this confrontation could lead to, and also ... we don’t know whether we should stop ... when these guys stop us.”

Sowetan reached out to Peters, who said he had been off duty and referred the publication to general manager Franco Moreli.

Moreli said he could not comment on the incident and that the provincial department of transport would issue a joint statement.

Outside Letlhabile Mall taxi rank, Puleng Motaung was waiting for a bus that would transport her to Fafung, about 43km away.

“I was done doing my grocery shopping by 2pm, but I have been waiting here for a bus to Fafung for a long time. I want to use a bus because I am able to save. The bus is R23.50 and the taxi is R30. The taxi is expensive,” said Motaung.

Motaung said the reason she had been at the taxi rank at 5pm is because buses were full. “From their depot they pick up commuters from Erasmus and Hebron. When they get here the buses are already full because since Monday there have been few buses on the road,” she said.

The North West department of community safety and transport management said MEC Wessels Morweng has called on the taxi industry to rein in its members, who are constantly harassing passengers.

“MEC Morweng has called on all passengers who have been victimised to report such incidents to law enforcement,” said spokesperson Oshebeng Koonyaditse.

Koonyaditse told Sowetan that they have also raised the matter with the South African National Taxi Council.