Hundreds of South African taxi drivers on Friday
blocked roads to Johannesburg airport, holding up thousands of travelers and
causing traffic chaos in a protest against the app-based taxi service Uber,
local media reported.
“The train going to the
airport was packed with passengers trying desperately to catch their flights,’’
witnesses said.
The local media
reported that some travelers were seen walking toward the airport, hauling
their luggage.
The taxi drivers
accused U.S.-based Uber, which operates in South Africa’s main cities of
pulling down prices and preventing them from making a living.
“From this day, we
don’t want to see Uber in our country, because it’s illegal,’’ one taxi driver
said to newsmen.
According to the local
media, metered taxi drivers say Uber drivers do not pay licence fees.
Meanwhile, the local
media was unable to obtain a comment from Uber’s South African branch.
Uber has faced protests
from other taxi drivers in Europe, Latin America and Asia.
It was not immediately
known if the protest would lead to flights being delayed.
The local media was
also unable to reach the communications department of Johannesburg airport.
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