South African taxi drivers protest against Uber

South African metered taxi drivers have again protested against Uber. This comes at the time time when the government launched regulations to legalize the reservation of taxis online.

The metered taxi drivers accused Uber of unfair competition because of the low rates they charge.

“Uber, obvious, it is operating illegally. You must operate straight, not illegally. If it is like this, always it’s robbing us, it’s killing our business, you know we own these cars, you can see we are using Mercedes and Uber they’re coming with Toyota Corolla… And now we’re highly tired about Uber. We don’t want it in South Africa, they must close this app, I think one must remember, Uber it is just an app, not a taxi,” taxi driver, Jabu Selepe, said.

“Those guys who bought the cars they must come and join the taxis. That’s all, they’re welcome. They can come, if they have got the permit, we have so many organisations, they must come to us and join,” another cab driver, Sam Mudau said.

Uber drivers are not ready to give up. “I think Uber is here to stay and they [the taxi drivers] only have to cope with it, they must try to find a way to live with it,” Uber driver Khuthandzo Rantete said.

The protest happened shortly after a meeting with local transport minister Ismail Vadi. The incident has been condemned by authorities.

According to local media reports, the process of issuing operating licenses has been hampered by violent protests between normal taxi drivers and those of Uber.

AFP