Hard-driving taxi men gun it on S. Africa's roads

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 20 (Reuters) Armed with pistols and hair-trigger tempers, South Africa's minibus taxi drivers are the undisputed kings of road rage, swerving through traffic and ignoring red lights as nervous motorists get out of the way.

In a country struggling to prove its crime-ridden streets are safe before hosting the 2010 soccer World Cup, drivers -- at the mercy of mafia bosses who exploit them for every last penny -- often get caught up in gangland-style turf battles.

Sitting in a minibus in Johannesburg's crime-ridden Hillbrow neighbourhood, a boss who controls about 200 local and long-haul vehicles talks openly about the violence.

But only after climbing into the vehicle, for fear of reprisals.

The supervisor, who would only give his last name, Mdluli, had just been negotiating with rivals.

''We have been fighting for two weeks and they won't listen,'' said the man, his 23 years in the business showing on his tired face. ''They steal our customers.'' His employees mostly use wooden bats to make their point, he said, but would resort to hitmen with guns if needed.

''This is a war. In wars, everyone uses mercenaries.'' Thousands of drivers and passengers have been killed.

Newspapers often run ''here we go again'' coverage when the taxi violence flares up, with details of 9mm pistols and rifles.

There is even an online game about the ''taxi wars''.

The minibus drivers, many still stuck in the grim townships of the apartheid years, share streets with flashy Mercedes and BMWs as their taxis blindly speed and weave across streets to earn cash and give a cut to their paymasters.

''They are reckless. They just do whatever they want,'' said Ntwane Ntsoane, a driver who said he worked for a government minister, outside one of Johannesburg's shopping malls.

HIGH CRIME RATE South Africa has prided itself on reconciliation after apartheid. But it now faces one of the world's highest crime rates, and taxi violence is not making it any easier.

The taxis -- which carry 15 people each and service more than 60 per cent of South Africa's commuters -- date from the early 1980s, when the industry was deregulated and people jumped at the chance to earn a living.

However, the desperate were soon caught up in political violence. In the apartheid era, the white government turned taxi drivers against each other to divide blacks and undermine liberation efforts.

After white minority rule ended in 1994, mafia-style taxi bloodshed emerged as cartels took over a flourishing industry, and taxi-driving offered one of few routes out of unemployment.

Unlike the days of apartheid, when a critical world was watching and agitating for change, in this conflict there are no heroes such as Nelson Mandela. The villains are hidden in a murky criminal network, the cause too mundane for campaigners.

Across the city, cab drivers start their day when it is still dark and block traffic as they fill their vehicles with passengers. They whistle, gesticulate and pump their horns with a menacing rapid-fire beep, beep, beep, beep.

Queue masters waving sjamboks -- traditional whips made from hippopotamus hide -- make sure taxis, loading trucks and cars don't violate their designated stands.

For some, it is worth the battles.

One driver -- calling himself Elton John -- wears a bright green hat with a company advertisement, ''The First Name in Brakes''. The 1,600 rand (208 dollar) he earns every week -- the high end of the taxi pay scale -- helps put his son through college.

Passengers on his minibus from Alexandra township to the wealthy Sandton business district were not so cheerful.

''Some of these drivers are drunk and the taxis are old and they always break down,'' said Walter Moloi. ''We are not safe.'' Some South Africans talk tough about taking on minibus drivers, but it doesn't seem to go beyond that.

''They cut me off -- then I cut them off,'' said graphic designer Brad Van Aswegen. ''But I never get out of my car.'' The safer option for the frustrated motorist is ''Taxi Wars'', an online game that offers a chance to virtually beat up minibus taxi drivers and destroy their vehicles with everything from a fist to a golf club -- with sound effects.

REUTERS SW KP0857