E-hailing drivers are being extorted in Milnerton, say residents

E-hailing drivers say that they are being held hostage in parts of Milnerton by alleged taxi operators.

A few drivers, who have been in contact with Tabletalk, said they are being targeted in parts like Joe Slovo, Montague Gardens and Summer Greens.

It’s alleged that drivers from e-hailing services like Bolt, InDrive and Uber are being stopped by some taxi operators when dropping or picking up customers in these neighbourhoods.

“This has been happening for a number of years now in the Milnerton area,” said a driver, who is a Summer Greens resident, and wanted to stay anonymous.

“A few years ago, probably in 2022, I was at the shopping centre in Summer Greens while waiting for a customer who had gone into one of the shops. Three guys approached me. They took my car keys and demanded that I pay them R2 500 otherwise they were going to take my car to Khayelitsha.

“I managed to call the police while we were all there. Luckily the police arrived quickly and I was able to get my car keys back from them after police had to threaten them of getting arrested. After the police left, they still demanded money from me. I was forced to give them all I had in my pocket which was around R200,” he said.

Most recently, a driver said that he had come from a trip from Paarden Eiland to Joe Slovo when he encountered this issue.

“Last week I took the trip to Joe Slovo. I had a funny feeling about it because I had heard bad things about this area. Nothing had happened to me until that point but I have heard stories.

“After dropping off my customer, two guys came to me, asking why I was dropping people off there and they told me to park and wait there. I thought about it but I just took off in the direction of Montague Gardens.

“I kept checking my rearview mirror but I noticed no one was following me. I was afraid because I know one driver who was followed all the way from Joe Slovo to his driveway in Summer Greens and he had to pay over R3 000. It is very dangerous now being in our line of business,” he said.

The e-hailing drivers said they are afraid to go and report to the police because they believe these extortionists have their claws in SAPS.

Summer Greens residents have called Milnerton SAPS “useless” because of the lack of action taking place.

Resident Janet Xula said: “What is the point of drivers and residents reporting this? Nothing is being done to stop all this from happening.

“Every type of crime gets reported here but we still see the same faces walking up and down our streets. We complain to SAPS about petty thefts and drug use, but we still see these people walking around.

“The bigger criminals like these extortionists see that our community has gone down the drain due to the vagrancy, drug addicts, public drinking and public indecency. They see no one cares about this place and that’s why we are targets,” she said.

Tabletalk approached e-hailing services like Bolt, InDrive and Uber for comment but they did not respond by the time of printing this issue.

Milnerton SAPS spokeswoman, Captain Nopaya Madyibi, responded to Tabletalk, simply saying: “We can confirm that we are aware of the incidents of extortion claims. The investigation continues”.