Commuters wait in a taxi bus to depart from a rank in the Katlehong, a township 28 kilometers southeast of the center of Johannesburg.
Photographer: Leon Sadiki/BloombergTransportation
Commuters Are Caught in Johannesburg's Taxi Feuds as Transit Lags
In Africa’s richest city, hours-long, dangerous journeys are the norm as passenger rail struggles to restore service.
Since the collapse of Johannesburg’s passenger-rail service during the Covid-19 pandemic, Jomo Tshabalala’s monthly transport costs have surged sevenfold.
The 50-year-old marketing agent now spends about 1,400 rand ($79) a month catching several private mini-bus taxis on a 26-kilometer (16-mile) daily trip to work from the majority-Black township of Soweto on Johannesburg’s southwestern outskirts to the north of the city.