Commuters in Soweto had to put up with long queues along routes of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system on Tuesday morning as taxi drivers continued to withdraw their services in protest against the system, the city of Johannesburg said.

Spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said however that the buses were "running smoothly" and that all commuters will be transported to their destinations.

'We've got police all over'

"No [violent] incidents have been reported as yet, but people will have to be a bit patient because the queues are a bit long as there are no taxis, but we will move all of them like we did yesterday," he said.

Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar also said there were no incidents reported on Tuesday following incidents on Monday where commuters were prevented from using trains as an alternative to the strained BRT system.

BRT bus stops had also been vandalised on Sunday night and a bus depot in Nancefield was blockaded with rocks and stones.

Gauteng police spokesperson Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said police were monitoring the situation.

"No major incidents have bee reported, we've got police all over... we are monitoring the routes," he said.

Making the BRT system buckle

Worried about their livelihoods and claiming not to have been adequately consulted, some taxi companies refused to work on Monday, overloading the BRT system.

They are opposed to the roll-out of the new complementary bus service running directly from Dobsonville to the Johannesburg central business district, and Ellis Park station, as well as feeder services transporting passengers from Naledi to Thokoza Park station, from Jabavu to Lake View station and from Mofolo to Boomtown station.