Female taxi operators in KwaZulu-Natal are under siege from a criminal gang, they said, noting that the thugs are out on a mission to hijack their minibus taxis, especially the Toyota quantums.
Areas on the outskirts of Durban such as KwaNgcolosi, Verulam, Inanda and Osindisweni are leading in the incidents where taxis are hijacked with commuters inside. The ruthless and heavily armed gang members are believed to be targeting taxis owned by widows, who predominantly inherit the business after the deaths of their husbands.
Former taxi operator Sizani Hlophe said she had to sell her four remaining minibuses because of the attacks and threats to her life.
“When my husband was killed, he had taught me a lot of things about the taxi business. For a few years after his passing, I was able to run it effectively,” said Hlophe.
“But things suddenly changed when some anonymous people in the industry would randomly call and make threats that I would not last.”
She said from an initially fleet of nine minibus taxis that she inherited, she was left with only four after five others were hijacked and never recovered.
“The loss became unbearable and I was fearing for my life and that of my children. I decided to sell and venture into agriculture.”
Another female taxi operator who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation said there were suspicions that the hijackings were planned from within the industry.
“There are allegations going around that industry hitmen are orchestrating the hijackings to instill fear and force women out of the taxi business,” she said, adding that to be on a safer side as a woman in the taxi industry, one would align with feared taxi bosses and sometimes pay a monthly protection fee.”
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