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VIDEO: Taxi driver runs out of petrol and drives in reverse
Updated | By Udesha Moodley-Judhoo
This is the literal manifestation of moving backwards in life.
A taxi reversing ahead of oncoming traffic/TikTok Screenshot/yanda_ntshingila
The saying "There's never a dull moment" couldn’t be more fitting for South Africa. As we navigate our daily lives and try to meet our responsibilities, we’re constantly encountering people with unique attitudes and creative solutions to everyday challenges.
One such scenario involves our public transportation. We all know that when you rely on public transport, something unexpected is bound to throw a spanner in the works.
Sometimes it’s a breakdown; other times, it’s traffic – though, according to any taxi driver, traffic is always avoidable.
But it’s the antics of taxi drivers that truly ensure there’s never a dull moment.
A woman recently shared a bizarre experience while travelling in a taxi in Johannesburg. The taxi ran out of petrol, prompting the driver to start steering it in reverse.
She filmed the driver driving the taxi backwards, as other vehicles headed straight toward them. It was a confusing sight, as it appeared the driver was in the wrong lane on a one-way road, desperately trying to reverse out of the way.
If, like us, you're puzzled about how he's driving in reverse with no petrol (since you still need fuel to reverse), @nkuriso_mkhenso offers a reasonable explanation: "When you go uphill, the petrol moves to the back of the tank, and the pipes are located at the front. Reversing helps keep the fuel at the top of the pipe."
Watch the video below – courtesy of TikTok.
@yanda_ntshingila 🕊️😩 The taxi didn’t have petrol, so we had to drive in reverse. Ngoba iyahamba noma ingena petrol ngo reverse✋ lapho drive ubeRude ini. #taxichronicles #emathunesan #taxidriverkdrama #taxi ♬ original sound - Sandisiwe Mathamo
People flooded the comments, drawing comparisons between the video and the popular "sobonana emathuneni" trend.
The "sobonana emathuneni" trend was created by Sandisiwe Mathamo's remix of a song originally by the Lusanda Spiritual Group.
According to an article in Bona Magazine, "This song amassed huge popularity as it is often used to project the daily life of taxi chronicles. Sandisiwe, popular on TikTok for recording gospel songs with his unique sound, recently shared a clip on his TikTok page with a caption: 'Why are you quiet? My mind: Emathuneni sobonana.'”
The sound quickly gained popularity, with many users incorporating it into situations they felt aligned with the song's lyrics, which translate to: "We'll see each other at the graveyard."
It's a bit morbid if you ask us, but South Africans are known for their varied sense of humour, and this is just one example of that.
The video currently has over 4.6 million views – and growing.
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Image courtesy of TikTok
