The BRT, kaffir taxis and highway robbery

The typical criminal thinking of the minibus taxi industry is that if you can't come up with a better transport system yourself, then go ahead and hijack the competition. Minibus taxis are a dangerous menace and have become way too strong a criminalised presence under the false pretext of legitimate business operators.

Intimidation and violence are nothing new, and are the measure by which competition is discouraged and destroyed. Associations claim monopoly of lucrative routes and prevent members of rival taxi associations from operating on such routes.

Violence is often indiscriminate and results in loss of innocent lives of passengers who almost always are treated with disdain by uncouth drivers who are never at a loss for an arsenal of profanities.

Self regulation has also been the major cause of the violence in this rotten industry. A bunch of a few uncles, often dubious characters, organise themselves into an association and, through intimidation and violence, govern themselves without any formal regulatory oversight by the Department of Transport.

These lice ridden, Aids infested, scrofulous thugs have become a law unto themselves. The enactment of the National Land Transport Transition Act was a pathetic attempt by the government at regulation through a taxi recapitalisation programme. Taxi associations continue clutching government by the balls with their intimidatory techniques. It's not as if they're taxpayers, so get this scum off the road!

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Johannesburg - The minibus taxi industry on Tuesday called for full ownership of the Bus Rapid Transit system. (LOL)

"Government must allow the taxi industry to own BRT in its entirety," National Taxi Alliance secretary-general Alpheus Mlalazi said at a press briefing in Johannesburg. The taxi industry had developed the routes the BRT system was targeting, he claimed.

"The taxi industry is therefore justifiable (sic) in claiming intellectual property or goodwill on the taxi routes and taxi ranks." (Which of course the taxi industry set up themselves without input from town planners.)

Threat of protests

Mlalazi said if the government did not begin negotiating with the NTA on these terms, there would be protests.

"In July if we fail to meet with the minister (Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele), we will embark on a protest march to deliver a memorandum of grievances.

"After seven days if there is no response we will hold a stayaway... if that (negotiations) doesn't happen, it will escalate." (Intimidation. Shoot the motherfu**kers.)

Earlier this month Ndebele announced the formation of a joint working group on public transport to deal with the industry's concerns over the BRT system and other issues affecting the sector.

At the time, the government said negotiations on how the industry would become involved in the business side of the BRT system would take place mainly at local level, focusing on the taxi workers affected by the system.

The BRT system raised the ire of taxi bosses, who felt it threatened their livelihood. The industry also expressed concerns that the government had asked it to register its routes and then proceeded to place the new bus system on those same routes without consulting it.

You arrogant shits think you own the road? Lay it on! We'll be only too happy to see you run for cover for a change.