Meter taxi drivers are pinning their hopes on Gauteng Premier David Makhura heeding their call to stop Uber taxis from operating in the province.
After a day full of drama at the offices of the Gauteng department of roads and transport in Diagonal street‚ meter taxi drivers are calling for Makhura to halt the process of legalising Uber taxis in the province.
Earlier on Monday‚ Transport MEC Ismail Vadi officially launched a new registration process which allows Uber driver partners to obtain operating licences like all public transport vehicles.
Currently there are over 4‚000 Uber drivers in the country and about 2‚500 of these are found in Gauteng. Uber has already been allowed to operate freely in the Western Cape.
Vadi told reporters that the department took a decision to license Uber driver partners “to ensure the continuation of a public transport service for the people of Gauteng‚ who have come to rely on Uber as a mode of transport”.
But meter taxi drivers want Vadi’s decision to be reversed.
Moses Sepadi‚ one of the meter taxi drivers said Uber could not co-exist with them as they do not charge the same amount of money and their model did not fit in with current legislation.
“Right now our guys have gone to the office of the premier. We want them to try and talk to the premier about what happened here today. We do not agree with what transpired today. The MEC has done something wrong and we do not like that. We want the premier to stop the operation of Uber. We are legal taxi operators in South Africa‚” said Sepadi.
The current legislation in terms of which taxi operating licences are issued requires the applicant to have a starting point (in most cases which is in a form of a rank) and the destination point of the trip. Uber drivers can pick a passenger up from wherever she or he is and take them to any destination. This means the trip of the Uber driver cannot have a starting point and a destination point. Based on this‚ the meter taxi drivers believe Vadi has made a mistake.
However‚ Vadi explained that proposals have been made for the National Land Transport Amendment Bill which is before Parliament to include other technology used by meter taxis which would cover the Uber model.
“This new regulatory framework will allow for legal operations by Uber driver partners and will assist regulating entities to ensure over-saturation on routes does not occur‚” Vadi said.
Earlier‚ the angry drivers attacked Vadi forcing him to flee for his life. Police were called to the scene and continued to monitor the situation the whole day as the drivers staged a sit-in at the department’s offices.
They only ended their sit-in after agreeing to send a delegation to Makhura’s office.
Meter taxi drivers hoping Uber taxis will be stopped from operating in Gauteng
Meter taxi drivers are pinning their hopes on Gauteng Premier David Makhura heeding their call to stop Uber taxis from operating in the province.
After a day full of drama at the offices of the Gauteng department of roads and transport in Diagonal street‚ meter taxi drivers are calling for Makhura to halt the process of legalising Uber taxis in the province.
Earlier on Monday‚ Transport MEC Ismail Vadi officially launched a new registration process which allows Uber driver partners to obtain operating licences like all public transport vehicles.
Currently there are over 4‚000 Uber drivers in the country and about 2‚500 of these are found in Gauteng. Uber has already been allowed to operate freely in the Western Cape.
Vadi told reporters that the department took a decision to license Uber driver partners “to ensure the continuation of a public transport service for the people of Gauteng‚ who have come to rely on Uber as a mode of transport”.
But meter taxi drivers want Vadi’s decision to be reversed.
Moses Sepadi‚ one of the meter taxi drivers said Uber could not co-exist with them as they do not charge the same amount of money and their model did not fit in with current legislation.
“Right now our guys have gone to the office of the premier. We want them to try and talk to the premier about what happened here today. We do not agree with what transpired today. The MEC has done something wrong and we do not like that. We want the premier to stop the operation of Uber. We are legal taxi operators in South Africa‚” said Sepadi.
The current legislation in terms of which taxi operating licences are issued requires the applicant to have a starting point (in most cases which is in a form of a rank) and the destination point of the trip. Uber drivers can pick a passenger up from wherever she or he is and take them to any destination. This means the trip of the Uber driver cannot have a starting point and a destination point. Based on this‚ the meter taxi drivers believe Vadi has made a mistake.
However‚ Vadi explained that proposals have been made for the National Land Transport Amendment Bill which is before Parliament to include other technology used by meter taxis which would cover the Uber model.
“This new regulatory framework will allow for legal operations by Uber driver partners and will assist regulating entities to ensure over-saturation on routes does not occur‚” Vadi said.
Earlier‚ the angry drivers attacked Vadi forcing him to flee for his life. Police were called to the scene and continued to monitor the situation the whole day as the drivers staged a sit-in at the department’s offices.
They only ended their sit-in after agreeing to send a delegation to Makhura’s office.