When his school transport did not arrive to fetch him from school on Thursday due to the taxi protests, 11-year-old Qaqambile Mthiyane decided to walk home.
The only problem was that his Khayelitsha house was about 30km away from his school in Seapoint, Cape Town.
Nevertheless, the intrepid grade 4 pupil from Prestwich Street Primary set out, prompting a frantic search for him when by late afternoon he had not arrived home.
Jacqui Biess, who employs Qaqambile's grandmother Penelope Mthiyane at her landmark Charly's Bakery, took to Twitter to alert as many people as she could about the missing child.
Qaqambile was eventually found, trudging along the N2 highway, at about 9.30pm by a woman searching for her own son. She gave him a ride and at 10.05pm, he was back home, much to the relief of his worried family.
“He was very scared and exhausted when he got home,” Mthiyane said.
Qaqambile was one of thousands of Capetonians who were left stranded on Thursday afternoon when the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) abruptly halted all minibus taxi operations in the Western Cape after an impasse with City of Cape Town authorities.
This followed a blockade by taxi operators on Tuesday in response to the impounding of about 15 vehicles.
The situation escalated into clashes with police and metro police who used stun grenades to disperse the crowd and smashed the window of a taxi to extract protesters. More than 200,000 commuters were affected by the halt of public transport service.
Another victim of the taxi shutdown was Nomonde Coko, 61, who has high blood pressure, heart problems and arthritis. She had to walk 10km to Khayelitsha after her taxi from Tokai, where she works as a domestic worker, dropped her at Mitchell’s Plain.
Her daughter Nandi Coko said she was worried about her mom's health after the incident. “Anything could have happened to her on her way home at night.
“She didn't get home until after 8pm. When I got home, she was already in bed complaining of aching legs. She still feels the pain and is exhausted and couldn't go to work on Friday.”
Mother of three, Pumeza Mabele, who works as a child carer at a southern suburbs children’s home, said she had had to work the whole weekend as staff who were supposed to relieve her on Friday morning could not get to work.
“I’m very stressed by the situation as I have been without my children for the past three days. I’ve got a one-year-old who is cared for by a day mother when I’m at work.”
I’m very stressed by the situation as I have been without my children for the past three days. I’ve got a one-year-old who is cared for by a day mother when I’m at work
— Pumeza Mabele
“Being here now means that she too must work overtime ... otherwise my little one will have no one to look after her as my husband works out of town. My six-year-old son and my daughter are staying at home by themselves as they couldn’t go to school. They depend on taxis to get around. I want to see them, but I can’t.”
But taxi owner Nceba Enge said downing tools was for a good cause. He said over the past two years the number of taxis impounded had risen, threatening the survival of the taxi industry.
“The impoundments increased tremendously from last year. As a taxi owner I’ve been feeling the pressure. You always worry about receiving that phone call that your vehicle has been impounded. It's not something you want to hear when you run a business and have bills to pay, including drivers and monthly instalments on your vehicle.”
Enge said this year alone he has paid more than R40,000 to release six vehicles that had been impounded for various infringements.
“Just two weeks ago I paid about R11,500 to release two of my taxis that were impounded for not having a permit and driving off-route. Just imagine if I have to pay so much just to have the taxis released ... what am I left with at the end of the day?”
He said taxi drivers were often labelled “lawbreakers”, but their challenges were exacerbated by factors such as delays in the issuing of operating permits, which had caused havoc within the industry and resulted in the impounding of vehicles.
Releasing a car can cost anything from R5,000 to R10,000, including admin fees, a driver fine, release fees and legal fees.
“When a taxi gets impounded, as a taxi owner you have to pay a R2,500 fine for the driver for whatever infringement against him. To release the vehicle costs at least R3,000. If you have arrest warrants against your name, you must settle that first before you can get your vehicle.
“A lot of times you must consult lawyers to get an early release of your vehicle as court dates are often a few months away. They try to negotiate discounts for us...so one impoundment can easily run into R10,000 or more.”
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