Taxi drivers threaten to burn Uber vehicles
During a protest against operating licences for Uber drivers on Monday, metered taxi drivers made an attempted attack on Gauteng transport MEC Ismail Vadi and at least one Uber driver, reported IOL news. It was also mentioned that Uber drivers’ cars would be burned if demands for fair competition were not met.
After announcing the new licencing regulations at a media conference the MEC was confronted by a group of men who’d pushed over various banners and tables and blocked the road. The organiser of the protest said that Uber had employed mostly foreigners while other taxi companies had employed mostly local South Africans.
The provincial government has since condemned the intimidation and attacks by metered taxi drivers and owners, saying that it is committed to an integrated, smart and modern public transport system.
“I think there’s a better appreciation of what the two different business models look like and Uber has indicated to them that they are quite willing to take on a conventional metre taxi operator,” said Vadi.
However a taxi owner said that Uber didn’t go through the Metered Taxi Council when applying for the permit and that everything went through the Department of Transport.