Taxi patrol danger in South Africa

South African motorists are not required to abide by the instructions or pay fines to so-called taxi patrols, as they are neither traffic nor law enforcement officials.

At least four videos recently surfaced on social media showing what appears to be patrols appointed by taxi associations terrorising passenger and transport vehicle drivers who had picked up hitchhikers or pedestrians.

In one of the videos shared by crime activist Yusuf Abramjee, a silver Toyota Corolla with white identifying lights on its roof can be seen trying to block and stop a Chevrolet Aveo on an unnamed highway.

“This happened last week after the motorist apparently wanted to give a pedestrian a lift,” Abramjee said.

The Aveo attempts to drive around the Corolla, which recklessly swerves to block off its escape repeatedly.

At one point, the Corolla manages to make the Aveo come to a stop, and a taxi association patroller in a high-viz gear gets out to confront the driver.

The Aveo then successfully manoeuvres around the Corolla and drives off, with the taxi patrol in pursuit.

A second video also shows a silver Corolla with white lights attempting to block a truck on the N12 in an apparent attempt to get the driver to pull over.

A third video of what appears to be the same silver Toyota Corolla with white identifying lights being blocked by a delivery van on the N12 between Johannesburg and Emalahleni.

It is unclear why exactly the van was trying to stop the patrol from passing.

Several Twitter/X users posted that it was the same Corolla from the other two videos, so it is possible that the driver may have been frustrated by the taxi patrol’s behaviour.

However, due to the low quality of the videos, it was impossible to determine whether the silver Corollas in the three clips were one and the same.

Another viral video showed what appeared to be taxi patrollers in a white Toyota Corolla trying to stop a truck on the N3.

At several points in the video, the driver of the taxi patrol car can be seen waving what seems to be a pistol outside the window.

In the comments on these videos, multiple Twitter/X users complained about taxi patrols’ behaviour.

“Taxis patrol car stopped my company-branded bakkie in Kyalami with my construction workers who were being dropped off,” said user Harry Mason.

“Told them it was illegal to transport them and that my bakkie was being impounded and I could collect in Wynberg. [I] called metro police who said they can’t help me.”

“Last month, I parked my car at a garage and waited for a friend to pick me up because we were going in one direction. These gents were there,” said user Just_Lem.

“As soon as he came and picked me up, they came and took his car keys claiming he had no right to pick anyone up or offer a lift cause taxis are there.”

A third user Jerry Mapatu said that he was late picking up his wife and told her to wait by a main road for her safety.

“Once I picked her up, the Baragwana taxi patrol car followed us and they told me my wife must take a taxi home,” said Mapatu.

Not even family members may be transported — Major taxi association

The South African National Taxi Council’s (Santaco’s) Mpumalanga branch defended the patrollers’ actions in a recent interview with Newzroom Afrika.

Santaco Mpumalanga chairperson Fanyana Sibanyoni argued that the patrols were for “security” purposes.

“There is nothing wrong with the taxi industry having security to look after our business,” said Sibanyoni. “Every company has the right to have security to look after their businesses.”

Sibanyoni said that car owners were not allowed to give hitchhikers a lift — not even if they were family members — as they did not have permits to transport passengers.

“They’re not allowed. It’s our business. They are infringing on our rights because we, as taxi operators, have permits to load passengers, but people cannot just pick up others because they are not taxis,” Sibanyoni.

However, national police commissioner Fanie Masemola has also stressed that the patrollers had no right to stop any other person on a public road — whether they are giving lifts or not.

“They can stop their own taxis but they can’t stop any member of the public, whether it’s a neighbour or anyone else,” Masemola said.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse’s (Outa’s) Stefanie Fick told MyBroadband that taxi association patrollers were known for harassing motorists and other transport operators like Uber and Bolt.

“It is all about routes and money,” Fick said.

She maintained that these patrollers had no legal right to pull over motorists or demand that they pay fines for transporting people.

“At best, they can regulate their own members but law enforcement competence is for the South African Police Service and metro police departments,” said Fick.

Some motorists may be intimidated by the lights that the patrols have on their roofs.

Fick pointed MyBroadband to National Road Traffic Regulations published by the South African Police Service, which explain what coloured lights are allowed for particular vehicles.

The white lights used by taxi patrols are designated for use only by registered security service providers and must be driven by a security officer.

While the patrols may be qualified security officers, they would not be conducting legal security activities by acting as if they were traffic or law enforcement officers.

Fick advised that motorists should ignore and try to safely evade taxi patrols.

“Legally, you can ignore any instructions or requests. My concern would be safety. “Try to evade them as far as possible.”

Fick also recommended that victims of taxi patrols open up a case at the nearest police station.

In some cases, the patrols have demanded that motorists pay a fine for providing a lift, which Fick said was extortion.

“I believe law enforcement should become involved and prevent these types of actions,” she added.