Some taxi drivers who work at the Bree Street Taxi are still terrified following the explosion on Wednesday late afternoon which destroyed Lillian Ngoyi Street previously known as Bree Street.
The blast caused panic and mayhem claiming one life and injured 48 people who were admitted at various hospitals in the City. But only three people remain in hospital.
The explosion also left destruction to 34 vehicles, mostly minibus taxis and damaged infrastructure and roads.
Newsnote spoke to some taxi operators in the CBD and all were still shaken by the blast.
Lungani Mahlabathini said he was even scared to do his work although he wasn’t there when the blast happened and only saw the videos from home..
Another driver Thapeko Sekgitho said he wasn’t comfortable with the infrastructure including the taxi rank anymore.
“We are very scared here, especially me. I have never seen anything like this. We are working here at Bree Taxi which is a triple story. As we are standing here we don’t know what can happen, I’m even scared to go load passengers to my taxi. We are just putting our hopes in God,” he added.
Taxi patroller from Bara City Association Mtho Xaba asked for help to fix the damaged taxis saying many taxi operators owning old taxis are not insured.
“We are asking for the government to intervene because so many taxis don’t have insurance like ‘Zola Budd’ taxis just to help fix them,” he said.
Xaba said various taxi associations were affected and the damage has taken income away from them.
Another taxi owner, Surprise Manyike, was concerned about those who will not be able to provide for their families because their taxis were damaged.
“We are still shocked about this but I’m just worried about abafethu (Zulu meaning for brothers) who are unable to work because their cars are damaged,” he said.
Authorities said all owners of the vehicles were identified.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, when asked if the government will provide any financial relief to taxi owners, said for now he was focused on saving lives.
“Taxi industry is a big economy but right now we want to save lives first before we can engage in other talks,” Lesufi said.
