Taxis

I’ve talked a lot about the taxis here, or kombis as they are called. Kombis are white, 15 passenger vans, some much older than others, that transport people from villages and neighborhoods into town or from city to city. They can be found everywhere in South Africa, bigger cities and rural villages, although the more people around the more present the kombis are. Friends of mine who live in smaller villages can wait longer than two hours for a kombi to drive by and take them to town.

In Kimberley, the kombis generally run on the same route, like a bus. On my way into town I can just stand on the side of the road near my house and just wait for one to drive by. There are no stops, so people just shout out when they want to get out, sometimes causing us to make a quick turn and we end up going in a different direction. When people want to get out they will shout out an upcoming street or shop or something like ‘after robots’ (after the stop light). Sometimes if there are only two or three of us left on the kombi the driver will just say this is as far as we’re going to go and then we must get out and walk the rest of the way. On the way home from town I go to the rank or near the grocery store where there are kombis waiting to fill and drive back towards the neighborhoods and township. I rarely have to wait longer than 10 minutes for a kombi to fill and take off. However, when I take a kombi the 2 hours to or from Bloem, which I’ve had to do multiple times, I have waited in a kombi for 3 hours until we were full and could go. It’s all about timing sometimes. 

In Kimberley, we have guys called ‘john boys’ who stand in the aisle and collect the money and distribute change. They also open and close the door for everyone and constantly have their head out the window whistling at people to see if they need a ride while the driver lays on the horn- I hear these noises from my bed in the morning. In the other cities and villages I have been to the kombis don’t have john boys and the money is instead sent up to the front seat passenger to collect and make change. I have made the mistake of sitting up there and found myself with a lap full of cash and 15+ people to give change to. The driver rolled his eyes and ended up doing it for me while weaving through traffic.

Kombi rides have turned out to be one of my most favorite experiences in SA. I find myself squished in a van designed for 15 but holding 25 grown adults, listening to deafening SA house music, watching active and fascinating conversations take place and smiling at familiar faces. It’s a place of community in which I have loved to be a part of. 

Here is a photo of the kombi we use at my work. I’ve seen 30 kids climb out of this thing.

Many of the town kombis look like this, but others are newer and bigger and have this pretty waving South African flag running down the side.