'Using WhatsApp take our members': Santaco wants illegal 7-seater shuttles dealt with in SA
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has warned about the rise of illegal seven-seater shuttle services, saying they are unsafe
Image: Armand Hough /Independent Newspapers
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has warned about the rise of illegal seven-seater shuttle services, saying they are unsafe and take business from licensed taxi operators.
Speaking at a press briefing alongside Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy on Thursday, Santaco president Motlhabane Tsebe said the unregulated seven-seater shuttles, often booked through apps like WhatsApp, pose serious safety risks and undermine the formal taxi industry.
His comments come just days after a viral video showed a motorist being assaulted by taxi patrollers in Vanderbijlpark, raising concerns about safety and the growing power of unregulated operators.
"We are deeply concerned by the rapid proliferation of illegal seven-seater vehicles that are operating as shuttle services, especially for long distances. But this one, I think, as we are sitting, we've dealt with the e-hailing," Tsebe said.
"Now there comes this other one that is using apps like WhatsApp to take our members, and these are unregulated operations and operators pose a serious safety risk, and this is where some illegal and criminal activity comes in."
Tsebe called on law enforcement and transport authorities to act quickly to clamp down on these illegal services, protect passengers, and ensure that licensed taxi operators can operate safely and fairly. He stressed that unregulated vehicles not only threaten road safety but also undermine efforts to build a professional, law-abiding taxi industry.
"We need to deal with that because it poses a serious risk through these unlicensed vehicles and undermines a fair transport operation environment. Their growth is well-intentioned, but the risk is escalating into regrettable incidents of violence, and this has to be quelled before they gain prominence."
"We are saying thank you to the law enforcement. We've seen the action that they've taken in the province of Limpopo, where some of the patrollers in our name were arrested, and we applaud that because we are saying this industry we need to do away with the same name that says taxi violence. We are a taxi business."
mthobisi.nozulela@iol.co.za
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