Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE government this week declared “war” against an innovative taxi business, Catch-a-Ride, which it described as illegal. The business makes use of social media to pick up commuters who they deliver to their intended destinations.
Taxi operators have also come out guns blazing against Catch-a-Ride who they view as a threat to their business. In a statement this week, the Ministry of Transport urged the public to shun services provided by Catch-a-Ride which they said was an illegal business.
The ministry said vehicles that carry passengers should have C, D and F permits that are also known as cross-border permits. The vehicles should also have brown number plates with two letters, a triangular document displayed on the windscreen, a certificate of fitness and a board showing where the vehicle is going.
It said the vehicles should also be at a taxi rank. Those operating Catch-a-Ride vehicles did not have any of these, the ministry said. The government’s warning comes three months after taxi operators complained that Catch-a-Ride was snatching commuters from them and were threatening the viability of their businesses.
Some taxi operators even assaulted drivers of private vehicles who were travelling with some passengers. In some cases they even beat up innocent drivers who had simply offered their friends a lift.
Speaking to thepost then, the taxi operators’ spokesman, Lebohang Moea, said he despised “Catch-a-Ride people from the bottom of my heart”. “Those people are taking over our business,” Moea said.
“We are dying because of people taking our clients yet they have no right to do so,” he said.
Moea threatened to “stop the illegal business” by all means necessary adding that “one thing they should know is that if one reacts out of anger, mistakes will happen”.
He however later sought to downplay his remarks saying the taxi association was not advocating violence. There are fears that the stage could now be set for a violent taxi war in Lesotho, reminiscent of the brutal taxi wars across the border in South Africa.
In what could be a fearsome omen of the impending violence, Moea said a Catch-a-Rider driver was recently shot dead in Welkom, South Africa. He said Catch-a-Ride drivers could be targeted.
“Every Mosotho should go to the taxi rank and use taxis, our doors are open and they should stop using Catch-a-Ride because they do not know what taxi drivers’ anger may cause,” he said.
However, a spokesman for the Catch-a-Ride business, Khampepe Mohapi, told this newspaper that the government had declined to register their business. Mohapi said they have been fighting for years to register their business but were rebuffed at every turn.
He said the government was frustrating their efforts to run their own businesses by protecting the taxi industry. “If we are told to stop Catch-a-Ride, how are we expected to sustain our families?” Mohapi said.
“We depend on this business and some people want to take food from our mouths,” he said. Mohapi said they are not going to give up on this business because they believe they are not committing any crime.
“We are not stealing from anyone but we are just trying to make a living out of this business,” he said.
“All we need is a signature of the Minister of Transport Matjato Moteane to operate legally,” Mohapi said.
He also said their vehicles are road-worthy and that they have paid all the fees required by the Department of Transport. “The only thing we do not have is the permit,” Mohapi said.
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