\u201cUber is killing us,\u201d metered taxi driver Abner Mashikinoya said shortly after drivers went on strike, causing a traffic nightmare in Ekurhuleni on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
Mashikinoya, a member of the Uber task team which was established to kick Uber out of the market, said they have exhausted all avenues in government and had to go on strike.<\/p>\n
Traffic was blocked on major roads in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, with over 60 metered taxi drivers blocking roads.<\/p>\n
\u201cUber\u2026 came here to kill the industry. We can\u2019t even take our children to school. It\u2019s enough. We are tired and we are angry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mashikinoya said metered taxi drivers were planning to partner with minibus taxi drivers to get government\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are forced to partner with taxis. Government fears them, not us. They do not want to talk to us. They know Uber is illegal but have done nothing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said metered taxi drivers tried to organise a meeting with Transport Minister Dipuo Peters but her office cancelled the meeting at the 11th hour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis shows that government is undermining us. It must just stop. It came illegally, it\u2019s operating illegally. It\u2019s not registered, it\u2019s something that came just to kill us.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said things quickly changed for metered taxi drivers after the 2010 World Cup when government regulated prices.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government regulates pricing. They imposed R15 a kilometre. They never told us the World Cup is over, please go down. Now Uber came and surveyed our system, and went at the lowest price ever. I would also use Uber because it\u2019s cheap.\u201d<\/p>\n
He warned that more strikes were coming, should government refuse to remove Uber from the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government knows they have taken money from Uber because they are corrupt. They know this is wrong. The minister must answer. Stop giving us vague answers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It was reported that a convoy of striking taxi drivers were at Uber\u2019s office in Parktown North. Head of Uber SA, Alon Lits could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n