Sjoe, Mmusi Maimane must really be feeling the crunch of the petrol price hike if he’s riding around in taxis.

That’s probably what the metro officer thought when he pulled over a packed taxi that was carrying the DA leader.

The cramped Quantum taxi was moving slowly out of the Noord taxi rank in Johannesburg on Wednesday morning when the officer pulled it over, reports Times LIVE.

When he asked why the vehicle was so full, he got the surprise of his life:

Maimane looked through the opened window and greeted the officer. “It is me‚ sir. I will pay the fine for all the people packed in this Quantum‚” he said smiling.

When the officer realised that it was really the leader of the Democratic Alliance‚ he took a more lenient approach and eventually let the vehicle continue on its way.

To be honest, if I were in his shoes, I might have done the same thing.

Still, why was Mini-Mandela – er, I mean Maimane in a taxi in the first place? Was he on his way to buy avos again?

Well, the report explains that he arrived at the taxi rank that morning to speak to commuters and taxi drivers, all of whom raised issues such as access to electricity and wages.

Maimane then boarded a minibus taxi‚ “taking a seat in the row directly behind the driver”, and proceeded to conduct media interviews inside the vehicle with journalists who wanted to hear the DA leader’s views on “how the fuel hike could potentially harm the taxi industry”.

And because it was also his birthday, the journos got to sing “Happy Birthday” to him.

Ja no, this is definitely something you don’t see every day.

Just ask the metro officer.

[source:timeslive]