In the hands of taxi drivers lies the lives of dozens of commuters and other road users on a daily basis.
This is according to Eastern Cape transport MEC Xolile Nqatha who plans to visit the taxi ranks across the province to preach road safety.
Nqatha’s planned visit is as a result of a disturbing spike in head-on collisions that have claimed dozens of lives and left many others with life-altering injuries.
The MEC wants to remind taxi drivers of their responsibility to ensure that commuters reach their destinations alive.
This after Nqatha paid a visit to the families who lost loved ones in a crash involving a minibus taxi and a long-distance bus in Flagstaff last week.
Eleven people were killed in the accident.
“Their [the drivers] behaviour and decision-making on the road can be the difference between life and death for the dozens of hapless commuters,” Nqatha said.
“We need to remind them of the added responsibility that they have and of the devastating impact of their actions to many families when they undermine and negate that responsibility.”
In another horrific collision on the N2 outside Mthatha recently, eight people lost their lives when two taxis colliding head-on.
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