Mandla Hermanus, Secretary , Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association
As CATA we condemn all acts of criminality in the taxi industry.
However, there is a need to look at the root cause of these problems. Since the pandemic started, with lockdowns and curfews, the industry has observed a huge shift in the travelling patterns of its traditional client base.
We have observed a move by many companies to provide transportation for their employees.
In the past this had always been limited to people working night shift, or those who needed to be at work in the early hours of the morning when taxis and other modes of transport were not operational or it was not safe to use public transport.
What we are seeing now is the proliferation of staff transport at all times and these companies make services of few individuals, to the exclusion of the taxi operators who are based in those areas.
This results in resentment between those providing staff transport and the local taxi operators who are now watching their former customers being taken away from them.
The taxi industry, supported by government needs to engage with the business sector and find innovative ways of ensuring that it is taken on board as the way people are transported shifts with the changing times and due to the disruption that has been brought about by the advent of e-hailing and the impact of Covid-19.
This however does not justify any criminal acts by operators.