Tok Toks: A Necessary Evil or An Unavoidable Good?
12 December, 2019
You are walking down the narrow streets of Haram, you are late, it’s rush hour and finding a taxi is impossible. All the buses that pass by are full and walking down three streets under the scorching sun of Giza is just not an option. Out of the corner the street it appears, your saviour, your ticket to be on time, the inexpensive option that will save your day and perhaps even your job; a tok tok.
A tok tok is a transportation vehicle on three wheels. Usually referred to as rickshaws in India and Pakistan, the light vehicle keeps the busy Cairo ticking. Ever since the vehicle’s introduction in 2005, it has caused widespread controversy among Egyptians and their government. Multiple efforts over the years to ban the purchasing, licensing, or usage of toks toks were unfruitful. Either all the proposed solutions by the government were not comprehensive enough, or people’s dependency on them outweighed the need to get rid of them completely.
In late November 2018, the Egyptian Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouli, said that the government was ready to start implementing a programme that would begin replacing tok toks with minivan cars that work with natural gas. Minivan cars look a lot like microbuses. But they can only carry about six to seven passengers; unlike tok toks that can take a maximum of three passengers. Besides its bigger capacity, minivans are proposed to be licensed, safer, and more civilized.
The plan is to take all tok tok vehicles from their drivers in Cairo and either send them to rural areas in Egypt or sell their parts to foreign parties. The next step would be providing the drivers with new, licensed, and completely legal minivans that would provide job opportunities to millions of people.
A tok tok is a transportation vehicle on three wheels. Usually referred to as rickshaws in India and Pakistan, the light vehicle keeps the busy Cairo ticking. Ever since the vehicle’s introduction in 2005, it has caused widespread controversy among Egyptians and their government. Multiple efforts over the years to ban the purchasing, licensing, or usage of toks toks were unfruitful. Either all the proposed solutions by the government were not comprehensive enough, or people’s dependency on them outweighed the need to get rid of them completely.
In late November 2018, the Egyptian Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouli, said that the government was ready to start implementing a programme that would begin replacing tok toks with minivan cars that work with natural gas. Minivan cars look a lot like microbuses. But they can only carry about six to seven passengers; unlike tok toks that can take a maximum of three passengers. Besides its bigger capacity, minivans are proposed to be licensed, safer, and more civilized.
The plan is to take all tok tok vehicles from their drivers in Cairo and either send them to rural areas in Egypt or sell their parts to foreign parties. The next step would be providing the drivers with new, licensed, and completely legal minivans that would provide job opportunities to millions of people.
Where do we go now?
In 2018, over three million tok toks were operating countrywide, and that meant they provided jobs to three million people who would otherwise be unemployed or homeless. It does not come as a surprise then that the recent government’s decision to ban tok toks completely from the streets of Cairo have made some drivers fearful for what the future will hold for them.
“I’m someone who is supporting a household through his work as a tok tok driver. I provide for my family, teach my children, and pay back my loans through this honourable job,” Ahmed Kamal, a tok tok driver on the 6th of October city, said. “Taking away my only source of income without a promise of something in return will destroy my life and the lives of others like me.”
Everyone is hesitant as to whether the government will go with this proposed plan or not. “Each year, they say they are going to ban the tok toks, and nothing happens,” Aly Mohammed, a tok tok driver in the slums of October city said. “All that happens is that the police come every once in a while, confiscate one or two tok toks, and leave.”
Confiscating a tok tok makes life harder for the drivers. Kamal says: “Back in 2012, the tok tok I had was confiscated for no reason and I never saw it again. It was for almost L.E. 15,000 then and it cost me a lot.”
The consensus among all tok tok drivers is that any confiscated vehicles never see the light of the sun again. Police confiscate the tok toks but never really do anything with them or with their drivers.
Some drivers do not see anything wrong with the new law. Instead, they believe it is for the better. “I personally do not have a problem with what the government proposed,” Khalid, a tok tok driver working in Sheikh Zayed in Giza, said, adding that “if they actually are willing to go with it and provide us with other vehicles that are licensed and legal then I will not oppose it.”
In 2018, over three million tok toks were operating countrywide, and that meant they provided jobs to three million people who would otherwise be unemployed or homeless. It does not come as a surprise then that the recent government’s decision to ban tok toks completely from the streets of Cairo have made some drivers fearful for what the future will hold for them.
“I’m someone who is supporting a household through his work as a tok tok driver. I provide for my family, teach my children, and pay back my loans through this honourable job,” Ahmed Kamal, a tok tok driver on the 6th of October city, said. “Taking away my only source of income without a promise of something in return will destroy my life and the lives of others like me.”
Everyone is hesitant as to whether the government will go with this proposed plan or not. “Each year, they say they are going to ban the tok toks, and nothing happens,” Aly Mohammed, a tok tok driver in the slums of October city said. “All that happens is that the police come every once in a while, confiscate one or two tok toks, and leave.”
Confiscating a tok tok makes life harder for the drivers. Kamal says: “Back in 2012, the tok tok I had was confiscated for no reason and I never saw it again. It was for almost L.E. 15,000 then and it cost me a lot.”
The consensus among all tok tok drivers is that any confiscated vehicles never see the light of the sun again. Police confiscate the tok toks but never really do anything with them or with their drivers.
Some drivers do not see anything wrong with the new law. Instead, they believe it is for the better. “I personally do not have a problem with what the government proposed,” Khalid, a tok tok driver working in Sheikh Zayed in Giza, said, adding that “if they actually are willing to go with it and provide us with other vehicles that are licensed and legal then I will not oppose it.”
The Backbone of Cairo’s Streets
It cannot be denied that tok toks provide irreplaceable services to the people. They are an easy form of public transportation that is a little more expensive than microbuses but a lot cheaper than taxis. They can avoid traffic by going through backstreets and they are faster than anything during the rush hour.
With an estimated 22 million people living in Cairo, a big percentage of them rely on public transportation daily to get by. “Whenever I am late to my 8 AM lectures and I cannot wait for a microbus and cannot afford an Uber, I just hop into the first tok tok I see,” Lama Tarek, a first-year student at MSA University, said.
“Tok toks are just a good alternative to taxis and Uber, especially since the latest increase in fuel prices that made Uber more expensive,” Amr Mohmed, a student and employee, said. For him, taking a taxi from his house to his university for L.E. 10 is a way better alternative than booking an uber for L.E. 25 or walking to the microbus terminal near his house.
It is clear that the cheap prices of tok tok rides, coupled with their ability to squeeze through small back streets gives them an advantage over any other form of transportation in Cairo.
It cannot be denied that tok toks provide irreplaceable services to the people. They are an easy form of public transportation that is a little more expensive than microbuses but a lot cheaper than taxis. They can avoid traffic by going through backstreets and they are faster than anything during the rush hour.
With an estimated 22 million people living in Cairo, a big percentage of them rely on public transportation daily to get by. “Whenever I am late to my 8 AM lectures and I cannot wait for a microbus and cannot afford an Uber, I just hop into the first tok tok I see,” Lama Tarek, a first-year student at MSA University, said.
“Tok toks are just a good alternative to taxis and Uber, especially since the latest increase in fuel prices that made Uber more expensive,” Amr Mohmed, a student and employee, said. For him, taking a taxi from his house to his university for L.E. 10 is a way better alternative than booking an uber for L.E. 25 or walking to the microbus terminal near his house.
It is clear that the cheap prices of tok tok rides, coupled with their ability to squeeze through small back streets gives them an advantage over any other form of transportation in Cairo.
To License or Not to License, That Is the Question
It all began when tok toks were first imported to Egypt in 2005. They were then manufactured locally without any permissions from traffic authorities and without any licensing. Official licensing only began in 2008 when traffic laws changed and tok toks were lawfully acknowledged for the first time. When the 2008 laws recognised tok toks, they gave them proper formal definitions and banned their operation on highways and inside cities.
Five years ago, things had escalated and tok toks that were not licensed were confiscated on the spot. In July 2015, the government officials adopted a new ban on tok toks in Cairo with a fine of L.E. 1,500 on any driver who defied the ban. “It’s the government’s fault from the beginning for not making licences for tok toks when they were first introduced in the country. It’s almost as if they did not want to acknowledge its existence in the streets,” Mohamed said.
“Licensing a tok tok is just irrationally expensive,” Kamal said, adding that “a new owner would already pay up to L.E. 40 thousand to purchase a tok tok and have a job and make some money, and then the government asks you to pay almost L.E. 10 thousand just to license it. That creates a loss before I even begin working,” Kamal said.
The problem with unlicensed tok toks is that they are unidentifiable. Almost all tok toks have the same size, shape, and colour, so without a licence plate no one would be able to tell them apart. This often causes problems with the police, who claim that a lot of unsolved crimes belong to unidentifiable tok toks and the “suspicious” tok tok drivers.
It all began when tok toks were first imported to Egypt in 2005. They were then manufactured locally without any permissions from traffic authorities and without any licensing. Official licensing only began in 2008 when traffic laws changed and tok toks were lawfully acknowledged for the first time. When the 2008 laws recognised tok toks, they gave them proper formal definitions and banned their operation on highways and inside cities.
Five years ago, things had escalated and tok toks that were not licensed were confiscated on the spot. In July 2015, the government officials adopted a new ban on tok toks in Cairo with a fine of L.E. 1,500 on any driver who defied the ban. “It’s the government’s fault from the beginning for not making licences for tok toks when they were first introduced in the country. It’s almost as if they did not want to acknowledge its existence in the streets,” Mohamed said.
“Licensing a tok tok is just irrationally expensive,” Kamal said, adding that “a new owner would already pay up to L.E. 40 thousand to purchase a tok tok and have a job and make some money, and then the government asks you to pay almost L.E. 10 thousand just to license it. That creates a loss before I even begin working,” Kamal said.
The problem with unlicensed tok toks is that they are unidentifiable. Almost all tok toks have the same size, shape, and colour, so without a licence plate no one would be able to tell them apart. This often causes problems with the police, who claim that a lot of unsolved crimes belong to unidentifiable tok toks and the “suspicious” tok tok drivers.
Entangled Chaos
Tok toks have been the scapegoat over the past years. Citizens blame them for making the congested streets worse, the government blames them for the increase in crime rates, and officials blame them because their income is not taxable. This all contributed to creating an image of evil chaotic drivers who are often perceived as drug dealers, thieves, or murderers.
“People say the most awful things about this job. They call us drug addicts and sexual harassers, but I personally know people who got better and who stopped taking drugs after they started working on tok toks,” Kamal said.
Another major problem with tok toks is that they employ children. “You will see children as young as seven years old driving tok toks here,” said Ehab, a regular tok tok passenger. “It makes no sense and it is quite sad to see these children working in such unsafe conditions instead of being in schools.”
“I know I am a tok tok driver myself, but I understand people’s anger towards seeing children working as tok tok drivers,” Khalid said, “these children should be in school instead of being on the streets.”
Tok toks have been the scapegoat over the past years. Citizens blame them for making the congested streets worse, the government blames them for the increase in crime rates, and officials blame them because their income is not taxable. This all contributed to creating an image of evil chaotic drivers who are often perceived as drug dealers, thieves, or murderers.
“People say the most awful things about this job. They call us drug addicts and sexual harassers, but I personally know people who got better and who stopped taking drugs after they started working on tok toks,” Kamal said.
Another major problem with tok toks is that they employ children. “You will see children as young as seven years old driving tok toks here,” said Ehab, a regular tok tok passenger. “It makes no sense and it is quite sad to see these children working in such unsafe conditions instead of being in schools.”
“I know I am a tok tok driver myself, but I understand people’s anger towards seeing children working as tok tok drivers,” Khalid said, “these children should be in school instead of being on the streets.”
What About the Women?
“Even though tok toks help me with my everyday life as a college student, I would never ride a tok tok alone at night,” Eman Shabaan, a student at the Faculty of Education in Damietta College, said. “I almost got kidnapped once by a tok tok driver at night and swore never do it again,” she said.
Housewives in rural areas have a different story though. Their lives, and the lives of their children depend on it. “We use tok toks to do everything,” Nagwa El-Sehly said. As a mother and a housewife, she depends on tok toks to drive her kid to and from his nursery, to get her groceries from the market, and to go see her family.
“There are no other means of transportation in this village -Eskendria El-Gedida- if you do not have a car,” Mona Shaaban, a mother of five and a housewife, said. “Before tok toks we used to walk, but now tok toks are here and they make our lives easier. Besides, they know how to get into those narrow streets that cars cannot get inside,” Shaaban said.
The usage of tok toks as a delivery system for groceries does not stop at women in the rural areas. In the urban city of 6th of October, Amal Ali, a housewife, also depends on tok toks to deliver her groceries to her. “I often like to get my fruits and vegetables from the open market two blocks down my house,” she said, “but sometimes the groceries are too heavy so I would ride a tok tok to take me back to my house through the side street.”
It seems that the government’s concerns about the relation between tok toks and crime is echoed by regular citizens as well. Ibrahim Kosba said: “just last week a girl was killed and dumped in this water stream -in Eskindria El-Gedida-, and of course no one knew who did it because it was a tok tok driver who was unidentifiable and his tok tok did not have a plate number.”
The alleged crime of murdering and dumping a girl happened in a small rural area next to the city of Faraskour in the Damietta Governorate, and it startled the citizens who deal with tok tok drivers daily.
In the city of 6th of October, and at the MSA University specifically, a rumour arose in 2016 that a tok tok had kidnapped a young lady and a young man in front of one of the university’s gates. One of the guards who worked there as the time was interviewed to get to the bottom of the rumour.
“Honest to God, what I heard at the time was that a tok tok driver saw a girl and a guy together in an indecent scene in a vacant building in front of the university. No one knows what happens next exactly but after that the girl was screaming in the tok tok and the police came to their rescue,” said Abdallah Mostafa, a guard at MSA University.
“I know for a fact that the vast majority of tok tok drivers are bad people, only about 1% of them are good people that I know personally, other than that, they can be harmful,” Mostafa added.
Women, especially young ones, have a lot of horror stories about tok toks. Given their secluded nature where the driver is alone with a woman in his tok tok, and the fact that the vehicle does not have a plate a number and it is dark outside, it is understandable that riding a tok tok at night can be risky and life-threatening.
“Even though tok toks help me with my everyday life as a college student, I would never ride a tok tok alone at night,” Eman Shabaan, a student at the Faculty of Education in Damietta College, said. “I almost got kidnapped once by a tok tok driver at night and swore never do it again,” she said.
Housewives in rural areas have a different story though. Their lives, and the lives of their children depend on it. “We use tok toks to do everything,” Nagwa El-Sehly said. As a mother and a housewife, she depends on tok toks to drive her kid to and from his nursery, to get her groceries from the market, and to go see her family.
“There are no other means of transportation in this village -Eskendria El-Gedida- if you do not have a car,” Mona Shaaban, a mother of five and a housewife, said. “Before tok toks we used to walk, but now tok toks are here and they make our lives easier. Besides, they know how to get into those narrow streets that cars cannot get inside,” Shaaban said.
The usage of tok toks as a delivery system for groceries does not stop at women in the rural areas. In the urban city of 6th of October, Amal Ali, a housewife, also depends on tok toks to deliver her groceries to her. “I often like to get my fruits and vegetables from the open market two blocks down my house,” she said, “but sometimes the groceries are too heavy so I would ride a tok tok to take me back to my house through the side street.”
It seems that the government’s concerns about the relation between tok toks and crime is echoed by regular citizens as well. Ibrahim Kosba said: “just last week a girl was killed and dumped in this water stream -in Eskindria El-Gedida-, and of course no one knew who did it because it was a tok tok driver who was unidentifiable and his tok tok did not have a plate number.”
The alleged crime of murdering and dumping a girl happened in a small rural area next to the city of Faraskour in the Damietta Governorate, and it startled the citizens who deal with tok tok drivers daily.
In the city of 6th of October, and at the MSA University specifically, a rumour arose in 2016 that a tok tok had kidnapped a young lady and a young man in front of one of the university’s gates. One of the guards who worked there as the time was interviewed to get to the bottom of the rumour.
“Honest to God, what I heard at the time was that a tok tok driver saw a girl and a guy together in an indecent scene in a vacant building in front of the university. No one knows what happens next exactly but after that the girl was screaming in the tok tok and the police came to their rescue,” said Abdallah Mostafa, a guard at MSA University.
“I know for a fact that the vast majority of tok tok drivers are bad people, only about 1% of them are good people that I know personally, other than that, they can be harmful,” Mostafa added.
Women, especially young ones, have a lot of horror stories about tok toks. Given their secluded nature where the driver is alone with a woman in his tok tok, and the fact that the vehicle does not have a plate a number and it is dark outside, it is understandable that riding a tok tok at night can be risky and life-threatening.
Going to Business with Grizzly Bears
In 2016, a businessman from a small village in Faraskour opened a retail shop to sell tok toks and motorcycles. What looked like a promising business plan later turned into an endless nightmare full of unpaid loans and unresolved police cases.
“All of the tok tok drivers I dealt with were swindlers, liars, and thieves,” Kosba said. His business operated by selling tok toks to wanting drivers through a system of small loans to be paid over the course of several years. Little did he know that this would turn his life upside down.
“People would merely pay the deposit, take the vehicle, and then never pay you a penny again,” Ibrahim added, “This is because the nature of tok tok drivers where 99% of them are terrible people with no sense of morality.”
This caused Kosba to report all the people who did not pay him back and to shut down the shop after opening it for a little over six months. Currently there is an ongoing feud with him and everyone who did not pay him back, and even though the police were involved, it seems that the cases are not moving forward in the right direction.
In 2016, a businessman from a small village in Faraskour opened a retail shop to sell tok toks and motorcycles. What looked like a promising business plan later turned into an endless nightmare full of unpaid loans and unresolved police cases.
“All of the tok tok drivers I dealt with were swindlers, liars, and thieves,” Kosba said. His business operated by selling tok toks to wanting drivers through a system of small loans to be paid over the course of several years. Little did he know that this would turn his life upside down.
“People would merely pay the deposit, take the vehicle, and then never pay you a penny again,” Ibrahim added, “This is because the nature of tok tok drivers where 99% of them are terrible people with no sense of morality.”
This caused Kosba to report all the people who did not pay him back and to shut down the shop after opening it for a little over six months. Currently there is an ongoing feud with him and everyone who did not pay him back, and even though the police were involved, it seems that the cases are not moving forward in the right direction.
So Who Is the Bad Guy?
There is always a clash between tok tok drivers and everyone else who is not a tok tok driver. The latter always accuses the former of being thieves and drug addicts, while the former always claims that they are, in fact, good people.
On one hand, they are trying to have an honest job and a decent life, but the police and the government are making it harder for them. On the other hand, having unlicensed tok toks roaming the streets of Cairo possesses a degree of danger that cannot be ignored.
Whether it is in the city of Cairo or in the rural areas and slums of Damietta, people demand and depend on tok toks for various reasons. Until now, it is unclear what the future holds for tok tok drivers, and for those who ride it regularly to get by.
There is always a clash between tok tok drivers and everyone else who is not a tok tok driver. The latter always accuses the former of being thieves and drug addicts, while the former always claims that they are, in fact, good people.
On one hand, they are trying to have an honest job and a decent life, but the police and the government are making it harder for them. On the other hand, having unlicensed tok toks roaming the streets of Cairo possesses a degree of danger that cannot be ignored.
Whether it is in the city of Cairo or in the rural areas and slums of Damietta, people demand and depend on tok toks for various reasons. Until now, it is unclear what the future holds for tok tok drivers, and for those who ride it regularly to get by.
Mariam Mamdouh
Journalism student
© 2020 Mariam Mamdouh. All Rights Reserved.
maryam.mamdouh@msa.edu.eg
maryam.mamdouh@msa.edu.eg
