Taxi crashes into breadwinner moments after load-shedding

Taxi crashes into breadwinner moments after load-shedding

by Kagiso Mabunda, 01 September 2023

JOHANNESBURG-On a Monday evening a women got hit by a taxi coming from work moments after the electricity comes back, in Johannesburg CBD near student accommodation.

The taxi driver did not yield for other road users on traffic lights since they were off due to loadshedding. He collided with the women trying to avoid crashing into another taxi, fortunately the woman survived the crash, and she was rushed to a medical facility.

Ashley, one of the witnesses said, “Taxi drivers do not obey rules and they are often aggressive when it is done to them, they fight with you”. Ashley witnessed the accident together with her roommates from the student accommodation window. She further said, “I cannot imagine myself in that situation where my mother is coming from work then a reckless taxi driver come into collision with her”. She said this statement with teary eyes, traumatised by what she witnessed.

Nomfundo, the witness said, “it is not the first time a taxi driver crash into someone, exactly at the same spot”. Nomfundo is Ashley’s roommate who witnessed the accident from her room. She further said that “I think load-shedding is the cause of many problems because whenever there is an accident it is when there is load-shedding, but this accident was scary, I thought the woman will die”.

Gladys said, “taxi drivers are not used to following the rules, it worse now that there is load-shedding affecting us they drive reckless”. Gladys is friends with Ashley, and she was visiting her when the incident occurred. The picture bellow shows the taxi collision, moments after the electricity came back.

Taxi drivers are considered as violent motorist, following the taxi strike in Cape Town the past weeks, where taxi operators were protesting because they do not want to abide by the laws of the road that was promulgated by the municipality which gives the authorities the right to impound vehicles that are operating illegal without registration plates and drivers licence. The taxi strike affected school children and people going to work, and other motorists’ vehicles were burnt, and others killed, and shops were looted. The protest disrupted everything in the city of Cape Town. This led to the municipality impounding 25 taxi for every vehicle burnt in response to the violence.

The taxi industry is a critical pillar of the South African public transport sector which is under the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO). The taxi industry carries 65% of the 2,5 billion annual passenger trips in South Africa, transporting people from rural areas, and townships to urban areas for work purposes and other commitments.