Two Uber customers who were intimidated by metered taxi drivers outside the Sandton Gautrain station on Monday had a warning for fellow fans of the app-based service.<\/p>\n
Shaken but not stirred, Kerry Lehmann and Lauren-Lee Poultney told Fin24 they were concerned by the lack of protection from security or police officers after they were forced to walk away from an Uber car that was picking them up.<\/p>\n
This is not the first incident at this station.<\/p>\n
And that is exactly the message Lehmann and Poultney have for fellow users.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I have any advice to users, it would be to go underground to the drop off area,\u201d said Lehmann.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe security was useless,\u201d she said. \u201cAt one point I screamed at the security and (the)\u2026 security was just standing there and looking at us. I spoke to the security guard and they asked us if they should have stopped on them. They said they couldn\u2019t because it was beyond the white line (Gautrain\u2019s property jurisdiction) and has nothing to do with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern is that the security just stood there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Gautrain spokesperson Barbara Jensen said while the situation was regrettable, the Gautrain guards were not allowed to get involved in a situation that was off their perimeter but were supposed to notify police about the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are not armed,\u201d she told Fin24. \u201cThey don\u2019t even wear batons. Our jurisdiction ends at the end of Gautrain perimeter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t get involved in the Uber and taxi issue,\u201d she said. \u201cThe city is trying to sort (this) out and has had a number of meetings with Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Ismail Vadi.<\/p>\n
\u201cUber also has the message that tells its customers to go into the underground pick-up zone. It\u2019s much safer than the one on the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a way to avoid this by using that underground location,\u201d she said. \u201cThen our guards have far more jurisdiction.”<\/p>\n
Jensen said the situation was being monitored and that there was an increased police presence last week. \u201cIt\u2019s very unfortunate that this is happening,\u201d she said. \u201cEven I use Uber.\u201d<\/p>\n
After spending a perfect weekend away in Cape Town, married couple Lehmann and Poultney had caught the Gautrain from OR Tambo International Airport to Sandton and were getting ready for the final journey home when the ordeal began.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a huge crowd outside the station,\u201d said Poultney. \u201cThey had boards saying \u2018taxi here\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
When they attempted to put their luggage in the boot of the Uber car, Lehmann said the group got up and some of them started hitting the car with their hands. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t let me put my bags in the car,\u201d said Lehmann.<\/p>\n
The couple said the group then started chasing them up the road, which is when things started getting aggressive.<\/p>\n
Lehmann whipped out her cellphone to film the ordeal, and a man is seen trying to knock the phone out of her hand.<\/p>\n
In the background, a Gautrain security guard is clearly visible standing away from the scene and no police presence is evident.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the Uber drivers,\u201d said Lehmann. \u201cThey are amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
After commenting about the event on social media, sub-Saharan Africa Uber community operations manager Anthea Baroutsos emailed the couple to apologise and even refunded their R51.47 trip home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it is definitely not about the money, but I would like to do this as a form of apology for the trouble,\u201d Baroutsos wrote in the email.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though it wasn\u2019t their fault, they refunded us and they contacted Gautrain to report the incident,\u201d said Lehmann. \u201cWe also got a phone call from Gautrain and they apologised and said they would report back to us on Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to let you know that we notified Gautrain management as soon as we became aware of intimidation,\u201d Baroutsos wrote. \u201cWe have also ensured that drivers have access to a number which deploys a private security vehicle in the event of an emergency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen this vehicle is dispatched, police are notified at the same time by the security call centre and asked to respond to this event. I am following up on your incident as the security vehicle should have been on site at this time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working with all relevant stakeholders in Johannesburg and Gauteng to resolve this as a matter of urgency,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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