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FLAGSTAFF – A former taxi driver has come forward, exposing the dark underbelly of the nation-wide extortion culture, shedding light on the depths of this pervasive problem with no boundaries.
South Africa has long been grappled with a crisis that should warrant a state of emergency. Business owners from diverse backgrounds came forward to condemn the reprehensible demands, with some forced to shutter their operations due to inability to pay the relentless extortion fees, threats, intimidation, and even violence. Tragically, some faced the ultimate consequence, death. This scourge wormed its way through every business sector and social class in SA including the unexpected realm of public transportation, the taxi industry. This revelation shocked many as the taxi industry was exposed as a hotbed of brutality, callousness, and ruthlessness. A Pondoland Times Journalist spoke with Mnelisi Manzini, a former taxi driver turned truck driver, who was compelled to abandon his lucrative career and return home due to the unbridled extortion menace, even before it gained public attention.
“I used to drive a taxi in East London, and en route to local townships like Mdantsane, I would encounter at least three groups stationed apart, each one targeting me. As a new driver, it didn’t matter if they knew the taxi owner, they would still extort me. They wouldn’t use strong-arm tactics but would simply ask for a ‘cold drink,’ a euphemism that new drivers quickly learned meant a pay-off. At the taxi rank, we were taught that a full load or a whole trip’s fair was the price of initiation on that particular route and even so, sometimes that settlement would expire and I’d have to start all over again, paying another initiation fee to continue operating on that route,” Manzini recounted.
Manzini recalled that he would often have to plead to complete his trips, scraping together the money to pay the extortion fee, which would then grant him clearance to continue. However, the gangs would sometimes resort to outrageous extortion, demanding separate payments at each of the three stations, siphoning off nearly 50% of his daily earnings. He explained that the term “cold drink” was a euphemism for a far more sinister purpose, and those who naively thought it meant a mere beverage paid the ultimate price, falling victim to crime, work interference, and even brutal violence.
