{"id":31846,"date":"2023-07-26T08:58:14","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T08:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/taxi-war-looms"},"modified":"2023-07-26T09:12:48","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T09:12:48","slug":"taxi-war-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/taxi-war-looms","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Taxi war\u2019 looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>THE government this week declared \u201cwar\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Speaking to thepost then, the taxi operators\u2019 spokesman, Lebohang Moea, said he despised \u201cCatch-a-Ride people from the bottom of my heart\u201d. \u201cThose people are taking over our business,\u201d Moea said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are dying because of people taking our clients yet they have no right to do so,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Moea threatened to \u201cstop the illegal business\u201d by all means necessary adding that \u201cone thing they should know is that if one reacts out of anger, mistakes will happen\u201d.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery 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\u2019 anger may cause,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He said the government was frustrating their efforts to run their own businesses by protecting the taxi industry. \u201cIf we are told to stop Catch-a-Ride, how are we expected to sustain our families?\u201d Mohapi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe depend on this business and some people want to take food from our mouths,\u201d he said. Mohapi said they are not going to give up on this business because they believe they are not committing any crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not stealing from anyone but we are just trying to make a living out of this business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we need is a signature of the Minister of Transport Matjato Moteane to operate legally,\u201d Mohapi said.<\/p>\n

He also said their vehicles are road-worthy and that they have paid all the fees required by the Department of Transport. \u201cThe only thing we do not have is the permit,\u201d Mohapi said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE government this week declared \u201cwar\u201d 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":31844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[233,246,810,245],"class_list":["post-31846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-business","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Taxi war\u2019 looms - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE government this week declared \u201cwar\u201d against an innovative taxi business, Catch-a-Ride, which it described as illegal ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/taxi-war-looms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Taxi war\u2019 looms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE government this week declared \u201cwar\u201d against an innovative taxi business, Catch-a-Ride, which it described as illegal ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/taxi-war-looms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-26T08:58:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-26T09:12:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/07\/sm_1690350125.330569.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/taxi-war-looms#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/taxi-war-looms\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Taxi war\u2019 looms\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-26T08:58:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-26T09:12:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/taxi-war-looms\"},\"wordCount\":600,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/taxi-war-looms#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/07\/sm_1690350125.330569.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Business\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/taxi-war-looms#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/taxi-war-looms\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/taxi-war-looms\",\"name\":\"\u2018Taxi war\u2019 looms - 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