Taxi owners whose vehicles were damaged in the gas explosion in the Johannesburg CBD are already counting the costs of their cars being off the road for repairs.

Michael Nelson said he was relieved that his car only suffered three damaged windows. He has been in the business for 22 years and he is under the Greater Alberton Taxi Association.

“The car will be off the road for the whole week because I care about my passengers. I am not going to rush to bring it back, people need to be safe. I am not going to be chasing money.

“After the incident happened, [my employee] Teacher [Labane] gave me a call. I came here immediately and it was chaos. People were running and scared.”

Another taxi owner Nduduzo Magwaza looked confused as he assessed the damage on his car on Thursday morning. The taxi overturned following the blast. The engine is damaged. 

“I am really hurt because I am going to lose a lot of money fixing this car while I must pay installments for a car that is not making me money. This car will be out for a month as is not insured. I cancelled the insurance because it was expensive.

"It looks like the engine is damaged and I have a couple of windows to replace. This is a really sad situation. Though I have other taxis this will set me back big time.”

Nelson’s employee who drives a taxi from Joburg CBD to Palm Ridge, on the East Rand, told Sowetan on Thursday he still cannot believe he survived the blast.

“I don’t know how I survived. It was not my own cleverness but God. I am not okay and I won’t be able to drive. I struggled to sleep last night.

“The bang was so loud and it left me confused. When I got out of the taxi, people were screaming. It was chaotic,” Labane said.

The explosion, which caused fissures on the roads near the Bree Street Taxi Rank, occurred around 5pm on Wednesday.

One person has been confirmed dead while 48 others were injured.

Taxi driver Mduduzi Nzama, who was driving Magwaza’s vehicle, said: “I heard a loud bang. I thought maybe I am bumping into another car. The car flew into the air and landed on its right side. When I got out people were already breaking the windows to get out. I was confused at the time. I sustained back and leg injuriers.”

Nzama, a married father of six, said he was worried about how he was going to feed his family because he won’t be working for a month.

“My kids are going to school and need money for lunch. I don’t know what I am going to do with this situation because in this industry, no work means no pay,” said Nzama.

bambalelep@sowetan.co.za