Download PDFOn 28 May 2025, a taxi crashed into Khanya College’s House of Movements, causing property damage and leaving people traumatised. Fortunately, there were no injuries or fatalities, but this incident brought light to two pressing concerns in the city of Johannesburg: reckless driving and the lack of functioning traffic lights. These contribute to such accidents.
Khanya College is a safe space for children, women, and its staff, and a secure environment for work and learning. But the recent accident has left everyone shaken and feeling unsafe. This accident has raised concerns about the safety of workers, learners and children who have to travel to Johannesburg CBD daily. Speaking after the crash, Lungelo, a security officer at Khanya College who was on duty the day of the accident, said, “The robots are not working in the city; they only fixed the one at Mooi Street this week. Also, the taxi drivers are driving recklessly. I was scared for my life that day. I can still hear the sound of the accident; I’m traumatised.”
Unfortunately, this incident is not an isolated case in Johannesburg’s CBD. The recklessness of some of the drivers worsens the problem, they ignore traffic lights and road rules, and put everyone in danger. Even in areas where traffic lights are still working, some drivers ignore them, causing chaos and danger.
According to Nosipho Mdletshe, a Programme Coordinator at Khanya College, the taxi driver said he deliberately steered into Khanya College’s premises to avoid crashing into food vendors working across the road from Khanya. Mdletshe explained that Khanya has a crèche on its premises, and this collision could have resulted in serious consequences for parents and children. That day, it was not raining, and there were no other obvious contributing factors; the exact cause of the crash is still not known.
“The accident raises concerns about the quality and safety of public transport. Issues such as faulty brakes or other mechanical problems may have contributed to the accident,” highlighted Mdletshe.
The lack of functional traffic lights in many areas of Johannesburg’s CBD has turned the city’s roads into dangerous zones. Crossing roads has become an unsafe task. Eyewitnesses describe the taxi crash at Khanya College as terrifying. “I was working at my stand. It was scary; people could have been killed. The taxi came from nowhere and entered the building. It is not safe to work in the streets of Johannesburg,” said Adam Lemso, a street vendor at the corner of Pritchard and Mooi Streets.
The city’s infrastructure issues and drivers’ behaviour need intervention. The taxi associations should take responsibility and fix the recklessness of their drivers, and law enforcement should play a meaningful role in making sure everyone obeys the law. The City of Johannesburg should address the infrastructure issues to avoid more accidents.
This article was submitted on 11 June 2025. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
