Taxi driver trends after saving passenger’s cellphone

A Joburg taxi driver who stopped his car in the middle of the road to chase down a cellphone thief has been hailed as an unlikely hero.

The heroics of the driver were captured on cellphone video, which has gone viral on social media.

The unidentified driver was driving in Hillbrow when the thief snatched a passenger’s phone through a window. The driver chased the thief and after catching him dragged him back to the taxi, where he was subjected to mob justice by other passengers. The phone was returned to its owner.

The driver’s heroics saw him trend on social media at the weekend, with some offering to buy him lunch for a whole week and others wanting to ride in his taxi.

Simphiwe Ibanjwa Chili commented on Facebook: “If you find him let me know, he must eat free lunch for a week. He could’ve easily decided that‘i t’s not my problem’ or shift the blame on the passenger and ask why they had their phone out, but he decided to be a man, a real man.”

When Sowetan visited Hillbrow yesterday, taxi drivers said they did not know about the incident.