By: Sthembile Shabalala

Hammarsdale residents mourn the rise in taxi fare both locally and long distance roaming.

The fare increased on Saturday, the 1st of August 2015.

Hammarsdale, also known as Mpumalanga Township, is situated east of Durban and was

famous for being one of the most violent townships in the Durban/ Pietermaritzburg region.

There have been instances where the residents did not respond well when prices of the taxi

fare rose in the past year. Their reaction towards this issue usually ended in violent strikes

and burning of buses.

According to an article on the Business Report, fuel prices will decrease by 51c a litre this

Wednesday.

Zamokuhle Ngcobo, rank manager for Mpumalanga Taxi Association, said that the prices

have to go up yearly whether the price of petrol rises or not.

He added that his job is to notify passengers by putting up notices before the prices rise up,

everything else is decided by the Mpumalanga Association Committee.

“I have nothing much to say except that this is business. At the end of the day, we need the passengers as much as they need us.

Since the prices went up on Saturday, there have not been any complaints directed to us as management and hopefully it stays that way,” said Ngcobo.

One of the passengers, Thabani Zulu, who lives in Hammarsdale said that he was not happy about the prices rising especially because he is unemployed.

“Even if it is one rand, there is a difference. At the end of the day money is money.

What can we do? We will continue using taxis because they are convenient,” added Zulu.