Taxis are not being targeted, insists JMPD

Only 70 of the 500 vehicles the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) have impounded for being unroadworthy are taxis — a statistic the police force says rubbishes claims that it was targeting the minibus industry.

The Johannesburg’s Alexandra Taxi Association has accused the JMPD of unfairly targeting them in the current campaign‚ which started in February. Drivers from the association left commuters stranded on Monday as they embarked on a strike after a number of their vehicles were impounded by the city police under operation Buya Mthetho.

So far‚ 500 unroadworthy‚ unlicensed or illegal vehicles — including minibus taxis‚ bakkies and illegal dump trucks — have been impounded under the operation‚ said JMPD police chief David Tembe. He said only about 70 of them were minibus taxis. About 340 of the impounded vehicles were held for being unlicensed and unregistered.

Among the vehicles impounded‚ and kept at the JMPD impound in Wemmer Pan‚ Johannesburg‚ was an unroadworthy minibus taxi that was‚ until a few days ago‚ used to transport students. The taxi’s seats were torn‚ some seats were missing, and parts were falling to pieces.

"Since we have started to impound vehicles no complaint has been launched against the metro police. No taxis have been targeted. What we do is, when one looks at Witkoppen‚ William Nicol‚ look on the freeway‚ the vehicles that are driving in the emergency lane‚ the vehicles that are skipping robots — those are our target. Unfortunately‚ if the taxis are the ones that are skipping the robots they will be in the majority‚ but we are not targeting them‚" said Tembe.

Among the impounded vehicles was one originally from Malawi‚ but falsely registered as a Gauteng car. The owner allegedly smuggled the car into the country.

Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba said lawlessness could not be tolerated any further in the city. "One part of this multi-focused operation is to ensure road safety and restore law and order. It is the mandate of our public safety department to ensure the safety of our residents‚ as well as ensure that law and order are maintained."