Taxi drivers declared a truce on Wednesday against bus companies they claim are illegally poaching business from them along Johannesburg’s Louis Botha Avenue.
This comes after a committee was formed to investigate the taxi operators’ claims and to verify the bus companies’ permits, said Pule Phalatse of the African National Congress parliamentary constituency office, which had been approached to intervene.
Taxi operators complained that some bus operators came from as far afield as KwaZulu-Natal to operate in the greater Alexandria area, without the necessary area permit.
They have reportedly been stoning buses and tearing up passengers’ season tickets in retaliation.
Whether the agreement would hold would probably be evident during peak hour traffic on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, Phalatse said.
Matlakala Manota, spokesperson for bus company Putco, said the company did have permits for the approximately 50 buses that served that route.
None of the other bus companies or taxi associations was immediately available for comment.
According to the South African National Taxi Council’s website, the taxi industry has been competing with the ”heavily subsidised” bus industry for over 50 years.
The council adds that taxis are estimated to carry 65% of the 2,5-billion annual passenger trips in the urban environment.
Meanwhile, police would step up patrols in the area. — Sapa