South Africa: 62 people found on North West taxi

Only in Africa....a "taxi" driver from South Africa was stopped with 62 passengers in his 21-seater taxi (and that's already a generous amount allowed for these types of mini-buses). To put this into perspective, the "taxi" drivers in South Africa are a law unto themselves so I'm surprised he was even stopped. They normally have no regard for their fellow drivers and are a menace on the roads. It's the norm for them to drive on the verges to pass traffic; their "taxis" are usually not roadworthy (cardboard used for brake discs and a spanner instead of a steering wheel are just 2 examples of what I've personally seen). When I read this story I tried to picture 62 people in a mini-bus (similar to the ones in the picture below) but you know, I just can't imagine who would willingly squash so many children into a taxi, even with all the horror smashes that is quite common with these taxis. Yeah, only in Africa, thank goodness... 


Typical South African "taxi" rank

Johannesburg - A taxi driver was caught with 62 passengers in his 21-seater taxi, near Buffelspoort, North West, on Thursday, the province's public safety department said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Lesiba Moses Kgwele said he was taking three teachers and 59 schoolchildren to the Kloof Waters Intermediate School, outside Marikana.

"This means that the taxi [was] loaded almost three times over it's legal limit," Kgwele said.

The 34-year-old taxi driver was arrested at 07:30 on the old Pretoria-Rustenburg road.

He did not have a driver's licence, a public driving permit or an operating licence.

He was taken to the Marikana Police Station and was expected to appear in the Rustenburg Magistrate's Court later on Thursday, Kgwele said.

He said the North West provincial road traffic management unit had been focusing on overloaded school transport and illegal operations as part of its "Operation Juggernaut" crackdown.

Source