A crucial fortnight lies ahead for the taxi industry in the Western Cape following the end of an eight-day stayaway that caused uncalculated damage to property, the local economy and the dignity of the community in general.
Also read: Update: Santaco to deliberate CoCT’s proposal as meeting adjourns
At a joint press conference with Santaco, the City of Cape Town (CoCT) and the Western Cape Government (WCG) this morning, Premier Alan Winde said that the exact financial cost of the taxi strike, which claimed the lives of five people, including a British doctor, was yet to be tallied but had harmed the local economy along with the image of the city as a tourist destination.
However, Santaco’s first deputy chairperson, Nceba Enge, said that the protest had cost the industry an estimated R50 million per day, adding that the organisation was being guided by its legal team regarding an interdict that would compel the City to release impounded vehicles.
Following yesterday’s resolution, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis stated that he was appreciative of the constructive approach taken by the minibus taxi association but emphasized that this point could have been reached far sooner and with less of a detrimental impact on the economy and lives of residents.
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The details of the agreement include that impoundments under the National Land Transportation Act (NLTA) will continue for vehicles driving without an operating licence, on the incorrect route, without a driver’s licence, or that are not roadworthy.
The parties agreed that the Taxi Task Team will further define a list, within 14 days, of additional major offences in terms of which vehicles will continue to be impounded in the future. This will take the form of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to guide enforcement staff in the exercise of the discretionary power provided for in the NLTA.
CoCT’s focus on the task team will be to ensure that all traffic offences that impact commuter safety remain major offences. Road safety for commuters and other road users is a non-negotiable, a position the City has not budged on.
The task team will similarly compile an agreed-upon list of minor offences that do not have commuter safety implications and will not be impoundable.
Winde said that a task team established in February would reconvene and an ‘escalation system’ would be implemented to add ‘another layer before we end in strike action’.
He further welcomed the resolution that a 36-hour notice period of strike action would be created to allow commuters and businesses to make alternative arrangements.
Hill-Lewis said impoundments would continue, but the Taxi Task Team would begin work to draw up a list of minor and major infringements over the next 14 days with a focus on ‘ensuring passenger safety’.
He described the agreement as ‘bittersweet’, as the resolution was almost identical to the one put on the table last Friday.
‘It feels there was an unnecessary extension,’ he said.
Enge said Santaco hoped that this would be a learning curve for the various stakeholders but expressed concerns that 14 days would not be enough time to sort out ‘some of the issues on the table’.
He claimed that nothing had been achieved by the taxi task team since its inception five months ago, citing this as the reason why Santaco initially opted to pull out of meetings.
‘We are hoping for the best this time,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Western Cape MEC for Mobility Ricardo Mackenzie disputed some comments made by Enge, saying that Santaco expected the authorities to agree to things ‘that are not acceptable’.
Mayco member for transport Rob Quintas said: ‘The City sees the minibus taxi industry as a vital partner in the integrated rapid transport system. We have had very successful relationships in the past.’
He added that the CoCT would enter talks with ‘an open mind’ to negotiate what offences would be fined in the future and what offences would result in impoundment.
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Also read:
Hill-Lewis welcomes end to ‘entirely unnecessary’ taxi strike
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