Cape Town - Taxi commuters from the northern suburbs say some minibus taxi drivers have taken advantage of the nationwide bus strike by allegedly overcharging stranded commuters.
The Bellville Taxi Association confirmed that an investigation is under way after they received the complaints.
Kraaifontein resident Melanie Ohlsson travels by taxi to Bellville where she takes a bus to work in Maitland.
Yesterday, the 31-year-old and other commuters cried foul after a taxi driver allegedly charged them R7.50 more.
She said she normally paid R12.50, but was shocked when the driver demanded R20.
“After waiting for hours in a long queue at the Bellville taxi rank, an empty taxi which was overloaded in a few minutes made its way towards town.
“We were informed that each head in the taxi must pay R20, and we were all fuming because the normal hour taxi price from Bellville to Maitland is R12.50.
“We all had to pay the amount the driver was insisting on,” said Ohlsson.
“This is daylight robbery and the drivers expect us to pay so much while we sit uncomfortably.
“I would use a train if Metrorail was reliable.
“When I arrived at work I received reports that some workers got injured when they jumped out of a train on the Northern Line route as it was stuck for hours,” said Ohlsson.
The Bellville Taxi Association said: “We condemn this behaviour as taxi drivers are not allowed to overcharge commuters.
“The only time taxi prices increase is at night, not in the morning or during the day.
“Unfortunately, the complainant did not take the registration number of the taxi, so it’s difficult to find the driver.
“We encourage commuters to report these acts and take note of the registration numbers to make investigations easy for us.”
Metrorail dismissed claims that services were suspended on the Northern Line but said they experienced major de- lays of 180-plus minutes due to signal equipment failure at Bellville.
The bus strike entered its first week yesterday. Unions have dropped their wage demand from 12% to 9.5%, while employers are offering 8%, up from their initial 7% offer.
SA Transport and Allied Workers Union spokesperson Zanele Sabela said talks between the unions, employer organisations and Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant would continue today.
The government was called to intervene in a bid to break the wage negotiation deadlock.
Bus employers and unions reached deadlock last week during a two-day meeting with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
Golden Arrow Bus Services spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer said the company sympathised with its workers.
“It’s difficult to quantify financial loss.
“We’re more concerned about our passengers and our colleagues. The policy is no work, no pay, so we are worried about them.”