Helderberg
Year 17 • Tuesday 30 July 2013 | Tel. 021 853 0211
Taxi hotline to track down ‘real culprits’ ASHRAF BOOLEY A new hotline for reporting reckless driving by taxi drivers and verifying taxis’ operating licences will hopefully help to bring the culprits to boot, while busting the stereotype that all taxis are a nuisance. This is according to Alfred Carelse, chairperson of the Helderberg Taxi Forum. The new hotline was recently put in place by the provincial Department of Transport and Public Works in an effort to curtail “irresponsible” behaviour by taxi drivers and to get the public involved in supporting law enforcement, says Al-Ameen Kafaar, head of communication for the provincial Department of Transport and Public Works. Carelse says the project is a good idea and hopefully the “real culprits”, who belong to specific taxi associations and actually drive recklessly, will be caught. “The stereotype that all taxi drivers drive recklessly and are irresponsible with regard tohavingnovalidoperatinglicencesisuntrue. Our forum has a good code of conduct. There are so many other motorists in general who don’t comply with the rules. Often when taxi drivers want to get back on the road after they have stopped, motorists don’t give way when they see it’s a taxi.” Other taxi drivers disagree with the principle behind the hotline, arguing that it will not make any difference to them. A taxi driver who ferries commuters from Strand station from around 17:30 during the week, says they have to drive fast so that they can make as many trips as possible. “Our commuters don’t mind because they want to get home and we need to make target by the end of each day. The hotline won’t make any difference to us because if we don’t drive the way we do, we won’t reach our target,” he says. Some commuters agree, saying that although this hotline is in place, some taxi drivers will nevertheless get away with driv-
ing without valid operating licences and continue to drive recklessly. Bernie Macmahon, director of operating licences and permits at the provincial Department of Transport, says they have been inundated with calls from both the public and law enforcement agents on the new hotline. “The calls that we receive pertain to the validation of operating licences, operators operating contrary to their conditions and reckless driving,” she says. According to Macmahon, the hotline will also assist when roadblocks are operational. When roadblocks are operational, call centres can verify licences on behalf of law enforcement officials on duty at the roadblocks. If licences are not valid, vehicles would be impounded. The department urges the public only to report valid complaints. Kafaar says members of the public should be aware of the fact that in order for the Department of Transport to address the complaint, they need it in the form of an affidavit with evidence. In addition to reporting incidents via the hotline, complaints must be logged on the Safely Home Reporter tool. “To ensure that complaints are verifiable, we launched our Safely Home Reporter tool that allows users to log their complaints and provide evidence. They will get issued with a receipt and the complaint is then directed to the relevant agencies,” Macmahon says. The project is jointly operated by the provincial regulatory entity, Safely Home and the City of Cape Town’s law enforcement to create a better understanding between the community and the taxi industry. “We want to establish closer working relationships with our entities and ultimately ensure that all road users are safe, have reliable transport and get home safely,” says Kafaar. Complaints can be lodged via the Safely Home Reporter tool at http://safelyhome.westerncape.gov.zaorbycallingthehotline numbers on 021 483 0242 or 021 483 0247.
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WATERLOGGED: After heavy downpours this past weekend, informal homes in low-lying areas such as Simanyeni, Solly’s Town, New Village and Wag ’n Bietjie were waterlogged. According to a report issued by the City’s Disaster Risk Management, a total of 720 adults and 85 babies were provided with hot meals, blankets and plastic sheeting by the City’s disaster response teams. Photographed here are Lisbeth Zakhe and her eightmonth-old grandson Linathi with James van Rooyen at their home in the Wag ’n Bietjie informal settlement. Lisbeth says the heavy rainfalls over the weekend was a major inconvenience. “We had to move our door from the side of our house to the middle because the rain poured through it. All of our possessions got wet and were damaged. I have to walk across a plank with my grandson to enter the house and it’s slippery and dangerous,” she says. PHOTO: ASHRAF BOOLEY
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