WATCH: Furious Durban commuters lambast driver for overloaded taxi
SANTACO in KZN says it's the responsibility of both passengers and drivers to ensure that Covid-19 regulations are being followed during trips.
The taxi council was reacting to a video shared online that showed passengers standing and some sitting on the floor of an overloaded taxi.
It's understood they were making their way from the Durban CBD to Sydenham on Saturday. In the clip, the driver is seen ignoring passengers who expressed their frustration.
Santaco's Sifiso Shangase says passengers were right to raise the alarm.
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"It is the responsibility of the commuter to say 'There is no longer any space for me to be able to sit can I step off of this vehicle and wait for the next coming mini-bus taxi.'
"People themselves were supposed to not to accept an overloaded vehicle. Secondly opening windows is not the responsibility of the driver. It is your sole responsibility to ensure that you open the window as a commuter in the taxi."
Santaco has reached out to the taxi association to conduct an investigation.
One of the passengers, Quinton Nicholson, says he didn't feel safe.
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"By the time I lifted my eyes and said the words I said to the driver and got his attention, he ignored me from the beginning - the door closed and he just took off.
"I was hoping because of my objection from the very beginning he was going to pull off and tell those people to get off the taxi and if they didn't want to the others could have gotten off the taxi while we were still in Durban, but he didn't do that."
Watch below:
The infectiousnes of Covid 19 virus is on another level and because of what is taking place in the taxis, there is a...
Posted by Quinton Nicholson on Sunday, January 3, 2021
