A Mdantsane lone taxi operator seen in a video being choked by other taxi drivers has recounted the attack that left him unconscious on Monday.
The video went viral.
Bongo Maki, 33, claimed he was assaulted by drivers at the Gillwell Taxi Retail Park after picking up a customer.
“I am running my own contract. I pick up passengers daily and on that day I was transporting a group of workers to West Bank. One of my passengers said they would wait for me in town,” he said.
“When we got to town I saw her waiting near the traffic lights next to the mall and as she got inside the car a taxi driver stopped us and asked why I was loading passengers.
“I told him that she is my client but he called his colleagues and they closed the road.”
He accused the taxi operators of being rude and violent. “They were all just shouting, one grabbed my keys. I explained to them that I was not taking their customers.
“I know that it’s their rank and I wouldn’t just go there and pick up people. I run my own contract from Mdantsane every day.”
As the commotion heated up, he said a taxi driver grabbed him and choked him till “I passed out.”
He said: “I woke up after some time and went straight to the police station without saying anything to them.”
His claimed woes worsened when a police constable at the Fleet Street police station refused to open a case after the taxi drivers allegedly took his vehicle as well.
“The police officer said it was my fault because we pick people up and run to them when taxi drivers beat us up.
“I left the police station and went to the East London Taxi Association (Elta) because they had taken my car to their offices and they wanted me to pay R1,000 to get it back.”
He said he went back to the police station. “The station commander had to intervene in order for the case to be opened. I got my car back and I will not stop with my business.”
Elta spokesperson Xolile Ngwendu said he was not aware of the incident as he was busy preparing for the funeral of Santaco leader Noluntu Mahashe.
“If people load passengers in their vehicles with the intention to make money then they must become taxi drivers but people driving their private cars have a right to give their friends lifts near the rank.”
Questions sent to the police had not been answered at the time of writing, although the Dispatch has seen Maki’s case number...