Frank Maponya
Frank Maponya
The dispute over a route involving taxis operating between Polokwane and Pretoria has paralysed one association.
Drivers of the Pretoria Long Distance Taxi Association (PLDTA) claim they have been stopped from transporting passengers between Polokwane and Pretoria by their rivals, the Pretoria-Mabopane-Pietersburg Taxi Association (PMPTA) without any valid reason for the past six months. The rivalry allegedly started in November last year.
Now members of the PLDTA complain that they are unable to feed their families because they have no income.
Andries Mohlolo, a PLDTA member, said efforts to get the transport department to intervene had been thwarted by the PMPTA.
He said the department had issued a directive on March 17 that no association has the right to stop another from operating - under any circumstances - but this has not solved their problem.
Mohlolo said he feared for his life since they stopped operating in December 2007.
However, Jabu Mahlangu, chairman of the PMPTA, accused the PLDTA of being responsible for the problem.
Mahlangu said his organisation was waiting for the outcome of a meeting between the transport departments of Limpopo and Gauteng.