Taxi men still intimidating Chatsworth
Chatsworth taxi men are continuing to intimidate school transporters and lift clubs, according to councillor.
|||Durban - Chatsworth taxi men are continuing to intimidate school transporters and lift clubs, according to Chatsworth councillor Brandon Pillay.
He said taxi drivers had been stopping people on Wednesday and, on Tuesday, issued letters detailing their position.
This was after residents met on Sunday to voice their anger at an advertisement placed in a community paper by the Chatsworth Minibus Association announcing that school transporters and staff buses would not be allowed to transport people from January 1.
A committee was formed at the meeting and it was resolved it would meet the association to discuss the matter.
“It’s freedom of choice,” said Pillay, and people could not be forced to be a part of the organisation.
He said school transport and lift club operators worked twice a day when they picked up people, unlike taxis that operated throughout the day.
Pillay said the committee held a meeting on Tuesday and agreed to create a database of lift clubs and school transporters in Chatsworth so they could form an organisation.
He added that they would also ensure the private operators had public drivers’ permits. He said they would also be meeting the Department of Transport.
Pamela Dhanraj, a committee member, said she was angry to hear people were being threatened.
“If it was gazetted by the government that is another story. Individuals can’t take the law into their own hands. It just doesn’t work like that.”
Dhanraj, 42, said transporters, unlike taxis, were normally approached by parents to ferry their children to school and the association was trying to deprive parents of the right to choose who did so.
Dhanraj, who has been operating a lift club for 10 years, said: “We are not competing with the association.” She said they were barely getting by with the money they earned.
Mervyn Pillay, of the Chatsworth Minibus Association, refused to comment.
Daily News
* Use IOL's Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.