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This is how the majority of people travel to and from work and is big business if you own a fleet of taxis.
Living in Africa you have to be prepared for the unexpected and this morning I had to get involved with some stuff that went down. My wifes company provide transport for their staff to and from work as the hours they work fluctuates regularly plus the bubbles we are in now it makes sense. This also helps them save some money not having to use other transport services. Plus if there are strikes we can whisk them in and out so they aren't affected.
This morning they were hijacked and held hostage by the local taxi rank in their area. The only explanation I can think of is business is so bad that they think they can intimidate others into using their services. These taxis are privately owned and are a law unto themselves.
The problem stems back to the Apartheid era when blacks were segregated away from the rest and were housed in outlying areas. Instead of having reliable public transport like trains and busses the private taxi industry exploded and became the "public transport". They are so big today that trying to implement a new public transport service that works will be destroyed before it takes off.
The ransom for the staff was only R1000 today or R8000 by Monday which is $500 for 9 staff members. It is not the money but the cheek to think that this is legal and it had to take a drive and grabbing some police to get it resolved. Not a normal day by any means but this is worrying as it is showing how desperate people are to make a living.
This is an extreme case and not something you can just make up as it is true and my thinking is this is not the first time this has happened. I do believe other companies have been paying the ransom money which is absurd and will make this thing more common. The thing that gets to me is the Police didn't even bother and were not really interested in this and no charges were made. One entire day of work was lost for the inconvenience and I think we are starting to understand how bad things are out there.
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More unemployment means less of a tax base as that starts to shrink creating other issues that many don't even consider. This graph is not even close to accurate and it should be bullish on it's way to an all time high.
Less jobs being available means less people using the taxi's and the basic economics is everyone earns less. Law and Order needs to be strong as we are going to see shit happen at some point. Violence and lawlessness is not far away as how could this idea have been a starter in the first place. This is pure extortion and this makes me cross that they are getting away with this type of behavior. What next a gunfight to get our staff back?
I do believe the economy is going to get far worse still and we haven't really seen the effects of the lockdowns we have experienced. The long term damage for unemployment has to lead to social unrest at some point as there is always going to be consequences. The Government has been lying for ages about the percentages of unemployment and you can't hide behind graphs when half the country don't have jobs.
I know every country around the world is going to suffer economic hardships over the coming years and I see crypto as something that is becoming more important to hold and is a must have back up financial plan. Forget Lambo's as we may need it to live on as these are strange times.