Man kidnapped in Kloof Street by taxi driver and left for dead on N1
This does not only pertain to Cape Town, in fact, it is a problem all over South Africa. So many of us do it; we leave a place late at night and hop in to a cab which is conveniently waiting outside as it is better than waiting for a taxi service we can call. Please people, DO NOT USE UNMARKED TAXI CABS!
On Friday night, my best friend’s husband left a bar called Asoka in Kloof Street in Cape Town at around 1am. He hopped in to one of the many unmarked cabs lined up outside along the street and asked the guy to take him home. After agreeing on a price, they set off.
About 500 metres in to the journey, the cab driver turned in to a side street and at a stop street two guys jumped in on either side of my friend and demanded money and his phone. He only had enough to pay the cab driver and his bank card on him, but gave them everything, including his phone.
The three men started to argue while my friend sat between them hoping they would let him out of the car, but they did not. Instead they started to drive out of town on the N1 towards Canal Walk. Thankfully, amidst all the arguing, my friend remained calm and just kept asking to be let out of the car. He gave them his card, told them his pin number and said they could have whatever they wanted if they would just let him out of the car.
Fortunately, they stopped at the off ramp to Canal Walk and let him out before driving off. My friend, in a panic, started to walk toward Cape Town and try to flag down a car. He was terrified that the criminals would return. While trying to get the attention of the few passers by at that time, he was hit by a car. The car sped off and left him for dead on the side of the road. Both his legs were broken and he was in and out of consciousness.
An hour or so later (we can only judge time by the time my best friend received the dreaded call at around 4am) a police van doing its routine patrol saw him and picked him up. And in a moment of consciousness he was able to remember his wife’s number.
He is currently in ICU and has had operations on his legs. Fortunately he sustained no head injuries or organ damage, but it will be a long road to recovery for one the most active people I know.
I wrote this story to warn people about using unmarked taxis. Last year, we covered a story about a friend of mine who was kidnapped by one of these taxis. It was a horrific ordeal and we hoped by sharing it, people would only use affiliated taxi services.
This is serious and we don’t even know the stats on something like this as not all incidents are reported. Please, before you get in to a cab, make sure that it is in fact the correct cab (if you have called for one), that they have a meter (and actually switch it on) and that they are a registered taxi service. There are so many options out there that there is never a reason to get in to an unmarked cab.
Below is a list of taxis services that are used in and around South Africa. Please add any names of taxi services you know and trust in the comments section below or mention them on our Facebook page or Tweet us.
TAXI LIST:
Elite Taxis
SaCab
Rikkis Taxis
Uber
Intercab
Excite
Sport 24hrs
Grab a Cab
Zebra Cabs
Orange Cabs
Eagle taxi cabs
Taxico
CabCo
Safe Cabs
Rainbow cabs
Unicab
SnappCab
King Cabs
CityCab