Photo: Matti Blume on Wikimedia Commons
Watch: Bloemfontein taxi strike causes commuter chaos [video]
Commuters have been left with very few options as the Bloemfontein taxi strike is beginning to turn ugly on the streets of the city.
Photo: Matti Blume on Wikimedia Commons
The Bloemfontein taxi strike has left commuters stranded and is starting to cause chaos on the streets of the city with drivers protesting unfair treatment by traffic officials.
Bloemfontein taxi strike
The strike began without warning on Tuesday evening creating long lines of commuters trying to get home at taxi ranks around Bloemfontein.
Reports from the strike did not make for happy reading. Apparently, anyone who tried to use a metered taxi as an alternative to get home was pulled out of the vehicle.
Not only were commuters left with no option of getting home, but most also had no clue if they would be able to get back to work or school the next day as there was no indication how long the strike would continue for.
“I think this strike is affecting us. Why should we get involved? It’s our education. You want to go to school now, we are struggling. How about tomorrow? This thing is affecting us, especially our education. It’s unfair. They must fix their problems,” one stranded commuter told the SABC.
Commuters are doubly frustrated because they were not made of the strike ahead of time, so they could not make alternative arrangements, on top of that they do not even know why the taxi drivers are striking.
As a result, they feel like they are getting caught in the middle of a battle that has nothing to do with them.
Police start arresting taxi drivers
As the strike continued into Wednesday, reports emerged that police have arrested around 25 drivers in the Bloemfontein taxi strike this morning.
Police continue to arrest taxi drivers in Bloemfontein. About 25 people have been arrested for public vigilance since yesterday #Taxistrike#sabcnews#sabcfs pic.twitter.com/4GLa46UrlS
— Aphumelele Mdlalane (@AphumeleleMdla2) July 24, 2019
Chaos on the streets
While some services seem to have resumed, there is still absolute chaos in certain parts of the city with roads being block by burning debris.
It’s bad in Bloemfontein pic.twitter.com/JoJGXM5or7
— Kabelo (@KaybeeSeepamore) July 24, 2019
A video was also posted to Youtube allegedly showing police officers firing at a taxi trying to drive away from them on Tuesday evening.
