Even Taxi Drivers Must Obey The Law

Taxi drivers cannot hold the country to ransom by threatening to strike if they are forced to obey the law, a policing expert has warned.
 
Johannesburg taxi operators are up in arms over the treatment they say they have been receiving from the city's metro police who, since the implementation of Operation Nomakanjani - the police's crackdown on dangerous driving in the city - have arrested more than 2000 motorists, most of them taxi drivers.
Taxi operators, led by the United Taxi Association Forum, have threatened to strike if the crackdown is not stopped.
 
But metro police spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said the police were willing to make only one concession - they will no longer impound the taxis of arrested drivers.
 
Johan Burger, of the Institute for Security Studies, said: "It's nonsense for taxi drivers to be making demands of the police.
 
"It is ludicrous to tell the police how to do their job. The [metro police] have to police the roads and when someone is blatantly breaking the law they must face the consequences. It is as simple as that," said Burger.
 
He said motorists have been raising the issue of reckless taxi drivers "for years and years" and it was high time the metro police acted on these concerns.
 
Burger said the taxi industry should focus on educating its drivers on how to adhere to the law.
 
"They have been given notice that the operation is taking place, so there's no excuse for breaking the law," the policing expert said.
 
Minnaar said the police explained to taxi operators yesterday that "we have a mandate to enforce the law".
 
He said Operation Nomakanjani was meant to curb dangerous driving and would continue indefinitely.
"I think the meeting went well. They understand that the safety of drivers and pedestrians is our main concern," Minnaar said.
The metro police were out in full force again yesterday. They arrested 40 motorists, including 32 taxi drivers .