[The danger of black minibus taxis on our roads is legendary… so too is their overloading. Here is a report that gives an example of these coffins-on-wheels. Jan]

“This is a nightmare. I have been examining vehicles since 1990 and this is probably the worst I’ve ever seen.”

This is how vehicle examiner Kim Lee described a taxi stopped on the R102 between Verulam and Umdloti and subsequently suspended for being unroadworthy.

Lee, Assistant Director in the Motor Transport Services Division of the department of transport, said he had stopped counting once he had found 50 faults on the vehicle.

The 1982 Toyota Super 10 had been converted to carry 18 passengers and the driver. Among the faults found on the taxi were:

Three different sizes of tyres;
A bald spare tyre;
No working lights;
Broken engine mountings;
Defective handbrake cables;
An unsound chassis;
Defective steering mechanism

What was most disturbing was that the taxi, which had been impounded by members of the Public Transport Enforcement Unit on May 21, had been granted a Certificate of Fitness on April 1.

“A cruel April Fool’s joke indeed,” said Lee.

There was also evidence of a defective clutch, shock absorbers and ball joints, leaking brake fluid and loose exhaust brackets.

Aside from the mechanical defects, the taxi also had various structural failures. Cracks repaired with body putty had reappeared.

Some of those threatened to separate the roof from the rest of the taxi. The doors were unable to shut tightly because rust had loosened their hinges. The rear hatch could not be opened and a missing window was covered with tape.

The driver’s seat belt had no anchors and hung loosely from a hole in the floor. The windscreen wipers, which did not work, were held together with tape.

“The whole thing is held together with body putty and duct tape.”

“It is literally about to fall apart and it was only a matter of time before someone died in it,” said Lee.

He estimated the taxi had travelled about 500 000km, but that was impossible to confirm because the odometer had stopped working with the meter reading over 300 000km.

The driver, L P Mlaba, was charged with driving without the required route permit and is out on bail of R1 000. The owner of the test centre which issued the COF said he was investigating the matter.

The Mercury has both the names of the test centre and the owner but has been asked not to publish those until the investigation has been is finalised.

KwaZulu-Natal Transport, Safety and Security Minister Bheki Cele vowed to intensify the clampdown on unroadworthy vehicles.

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Mercury on June 23, 2004

Source: Independent Online (IOL)
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click…/p>