The war between metered taxi drivers and Uber operators shows no signs of abating any time soon. And the latest incident has left a customer bloodied.
South African recording artist Jack Parow took to Twitter early Monday, stating that his friend, Dirk Agenbag, was stabbed while waiting for an Uber in Johannesburg.
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“Ysterday my chom @DirkAgenbag ordered an @Uber_RSA, whle waiting, a taxi driver stabbed him! Wht does uber do?Tells him to get out the uber! (sic)” he tweeted.
Ysterday my chom @DirkAgenbag ordered an @Uber_RSA, whle waiting, a taxi driver stabbed him! Wht does uber do?Tells him to get out the uber! pic.twitter.com/7ARuJvSQg3
— Jack Parow (@JackParow) October 23, 2017
The tweet, which included a picture of the battered Agenbag, soon went viral on the social network, receiving over 370 retweets and 110 likes.
The incident attracted the attention of South Africa’s Twitterati.
Radio personality DJ Fresh weighed after a user questioned the violence between Uber and metered taxi drivers.
Fear … that’s how terrorism works …
— DJ Fresh (Big Dawg) (@DJFreshSA) October 23, 2017
South African recording artist Lindiwe Suttle sent her well wishes to the victim.
And also what the hell is this criminal who stabbed him. Sick. Dirk hope you recover quickly.
— Lindiwe Suttle (@lindiwesuttle) October 23, 2017
Comedian Deep Fried Man laid into Uber and the South African Police Service, calling into question the company’s and SAPS’s plans to protect drivers and passengers.
“The police are too useless to do anything. This is on you,” he writes.
Yo @Uber_RSA, you need a better plan to protect your drivers and passengers. The police are too useless to do anything. This is on you.
— Deep Fried Man (@DeepFriedMan) October 23, 2017
This isn’t the first incident of violence involving Uber and metered taxi drivers this year.
Uber customers in April were reportedly threatened by metered taxi drivers at Centurion and Sandton Gautrain stations.
In September, Uber and metered taxi drivers’ cars were set alight in Sandton during a night of violence in the country’s economic hub.
In Gauteng and across Cape Town, taxi strikes opposing Uber have disrupted traffic and normal city operations in 2017.
Uber responded to Jack Parow’s tweet, suggesting that it takes “incidents like this very seriously”.
“Upon learning of this, we immediately […] began investigating the matter. We’ve contacted the rider to check on his well being and offer our support,” the company responded over two subsequent replies.
The South African Police Service has yet to issue a statement.
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