Taxi!

The must wear design for all South Africans abroad!

Other countries deal with moose or kangaroos or hedgehogs crossing the roads. Here in South Africa the hazards are people, goats and worst of all, taxis. There is not a  South African driver who has not had a close encounter of the hair-raising kind with a “mini-bus” taxi. Every week there are news reports of horrific accidents involving taxis or shocked newspaper articles about taxis running over school children.  We are all briefly up in arms, but then the usual reaction sets in – Ho hum, some other poor sod had a taxi  – stop suddenly in front of them/veer across three lanes of traffic/burst into flames/scream through a red light at top speed/take a turn too fast and end up rolling/sideswipe your car as it gets back on the official road, having driven down the emergency lane for the last 10 kilometres (circle applicable).

The government has finally instituted the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system. This is the hopes that spectators will be able to get to soccer matches in one piece in 2010 perhaps? The petulant taxi industry is having a tantrum. They don’t want the buses in their sandbox and so they are holding their collective breaths until the buses go home.  Competition is not something they like at all. In fact rival taxi companies have been known to have gunfights at the sightest provocation – another reason to avoid them!

I want to say: “Go ahead – take your toys and go home, I love the roads without taxis on them.” But there are people who desperately need taxis to get them to and from work and it’s not great for the economy… hopefully the BRT will be able to cope despite first day chaos and the need for these death traps on wheels will decrease.

I am enjoying the taxi free roads in the meantime.