Scenes from life in Cape Town I: The Taksi Gaachey

And, I'm back ... (That new years resolution I made last year flew out the window with the first bar of chocolate at ten past midnight 01 Jan 2008)

The taksi gaachey is an integral part of life in Cape Town. He is an institution by himself, avant garde poetry by just existing..

In Cape Town, the public transport systems are not very well developed. Most commuters make use of the buses, taxi's and trains. The most popular form of public transport is the taxi. Now this taxi is unlike the ones you will find anywhere else in the world. It usually is a 12 to 15 seater mini van, which has been unusually pimped. Chrome wheels, dvd players, and loud, loud, loud stereo systems characterise the typical taxi.

The popularity of the taxi probably rests with the fact that it is one of the cheapest and fastest ways of getting to your destination. Its also an adrenaline-filled death defying trip. Taxi drivers have no clue what the rules of the road entail, and indicator lights are much like an appendix to them, there, but useless. They brake in the middle of busy intersections in peak traffic to pick up passengers and defy speed limits, they tailgate, and overtake normal cars even if they have to drive into oncoming traffic. The taxi drivers however, are not the point of this post.

Back to the point. The Gaachey is the taxi drivers assistant. He is responsible for taking the taxi fare from commuters, and providing them with change. He also makes sure that the taxi is filled up for each trip, and this is where he becomes so innovative and worth mentioning. The Gaachey remembers his destinations and walks along the 'pick-up' zones chanting them like a litany or song. One often hears ' Ethlown, Mowbreeey, Kaaap!' They use the sweetest language to get pretty women to drive with them, and are of great assistance to pregnant and older passengers.

The Gaachey is a Cape Town institution, one that makes me smile every day, as his chanting fills the air when I drive by...