Special Task force established to end Uber, Meter Taxi Violence
The Gauteng Government has established a special task force to deal with the recent spate of taxi violence between Uber and meter taxi drivers.
Premier David Makhura says he has called on Police Minister Fikile Mbalula and Transport Minister, Joe Maswaganyi to assist in dealing with the situation.
Makhura was speaking at the Gautrain offices in Midrand, where he briefed the media on measures that will be taken to end the violence.
"There was a special task force which is still in operation that deals with minibus taxi violence. But we want a dedicated special task force to look at this conflict, especially the use of violence by those involved in this," says Makhura.
Twenty eight suspects have been arrested and 166 cases of violence related to Uber and meter taxis are under investigation.
Makhura says these attacks predominantly happen in Johannesburg and Tshwane.
"The number of attacks across the province is now close to 300 since January this year. 204 of them happened in Tshwane, most of them at the Hatfield Gautrain station, 86 of them in Johannesburg, most of them at the Sandton Gautrain station and 4 attacks in Ekhuruleni, most of them at OR Tambo International Airport," he says.
Gauteng Transport MEC, Ismail Vadi, responded to calls by meter taxi operators for Uber to be banned in the country.
"We are unlikely to ban Uber or any other e-haling transport system. But we do weigh up the services to see if they are safe, viable and affordable to make policy decisions. The signal from national government is that we have no intention at this stage to ban Uber, taxify or any other app based transport system," says Vadi.