SIPHO is a happy man now that taxi owners have stopped asking him for money.
The story of Sipho Mabutho (33), a hawker from Langa in Cape Town, was published on 3 September.
It told the story of how Sipho was threatened because he didn’t want to pay a protection fee to taximen.
He said some wanted R500, while others wanted as much as R2 000 from him!
When he said he couldn’t afford it, they told him to pay R15 a week.
“When this thing started two years ago I thought they were joking. I sell toilet paper at the side of the road.
“Where will I get the money?” asked Sipho.
Since the story was published, taximen have told Sipho he’s free to do his business at the side of the road in Langa.
“I’m happy now that I can work freely again. What was happening was stressing me out,” he said.
“I didn’t understand why they wanted the money because I thought it was only the City of Cape Town who could charge.”
But all of that is water under the bridge because now Sipho is free.
“I knew I couldn’t pay the money but I needed to get out of this situation, so I turned to Daily Sun.
“If it wasn’t for the People’s Paper, I’d still be in the same situation or even dead,” he said.
“Now I can sleep peacefully at night again!”
