Community applauds taxi drivers for leading the battle against drugs

Pretoria, South Africa — The infamous Brown Street in the city of Tshwane have been struggling to keep the area clean from CBD drug users and dealers. And thanks to the local taxi drivers, the community might be one step away from achieving that goal.

A huge group of cab drivers, armed with sticks and whips, stormed towards a local shop that allegedly sells drugs. Police officials immediately rushed into the scene to stop the taxi drivers considering the legal issues at hand. Eventually, the shop was forced to close down due to the situation.

The group’s representative, Moko Mokoka, said they did it in order to protect their customers from seemingly endless robberies by drug users.

“There are some foreign nationals who sell drugs here, but they don’t use this stuff,” Moko said. “So we took the decision that as taxi drivers we would clean up and remove the dealers and users.”

Moko also stated that they usually drop off these users to their homes, so they know where they live. And when the situation allows it, cabbies warn them not to come back to town.

Efforts to eradicate drug dealers and users off the streets have yet to be successful. Drugs continue to be sold, bought, and used openly.

He explained: “The police do nothing; when we take these dealers to them, within an hour those people are back on the streets selling again.”

Taxi drivers claim that until it becomes clear that drugs will no longer be tolerated, they will continue the campaign against drugs.

The actions of these taxi drivers were praised and applauded by many members of the community. One regular taxi commuter named Ofentse Raphiri was thankful for the taxi drivers for their efforts.

“I applaud them for stopping this nonsense we see every day,” Ofentse said. “It’s like it’s not the same town when you pass by there. It’s disgusting and so sad to see, so I say they should keep on.”