Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says all of the violence, damage to property and loss of life that occurred during the minibus taxi strike could have been avoided if the South African National Taxi Alliance (Santaco) had accepted the deal it was offered on the first day of the strike.
Also read: Hill-Lewis welcomes end to ‘entirely unnecessary’ taxi strike
‘The tragic implication is that all of the violence, the deplorable loss of life, and the damage to property and to our local economy – all of it was for nought,’ Hill-Lewis noted after Santaco announced that it would resume operations on Friday.
According to the Daily Maverick, the City of Cape Town (CoCT) mayor shed light on said deal, which was initially rejected by the transport union. According to the deal, the City will continue to impound vehicles under the National Land Traffic Act (NLTA) for offences such as operating without a licence, driving on the incorrect route or driving without a driver’s licence, as well as vehicles that are not roadworthy.
Hill-Lewis says the City’s Taxi Task Team will further define a list within 14 days of additional major offences in terms of which vehicles will be impounded, adding that the City will focus on ensuring that traffic transgressions that affect commuter safety remain major offences. ‘This will take the form of a standard operating procedure (SOP) on the exercise of the discretionary power provided for in the National Land Transportation Act and would be similar to other SOPs which guide staff in respect to other laws and procedures.’
He adds that the Taxi Task Team will compile an agreed-upon list of minor offences that do not have commuter safety implications, and would not result in impoundments. ‘The city continues to believe it will be able to demonstrate to Santaco that we have already been following this distinction for some time. Importantly, if Santaco believes that any of their taxis have been impounded for these minor offences, which we do not believe to be the case, then they can produce the relevant impoundment notices and we will make representations to the Public Prosecutor to support the release of these vehicles.’
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The Daily Maverick further reports that Santaco has agreed to never again call for a strike in the middle of a working day and that they will always give at least 36 hours notice ahead of planned strike action. ‘We should never see a repeat of thousands of people being forced to walk home again,” he said, adding that the Taxi Task Team would now have a dispute resolution escalation and resolution clause.
‘These are the exact same conditions that Santaco needlessly rejected eight days ago. And not a single person gained anything from the violence that ensued. Instead, everyone lost — commuters, taxi drivers and innocent residents of Cape Town.’
The agreement was reached on Thursday after Santaco called for a province-wide minibus taxi stayaway, which lasted for eight days. The group initially declined the City’s invitation to negotiate after no further major incidents of violence were reported in Cape Town. However, Santaco decided to continue negotiations later that day.
Santaco Western Cape chairperson Mandla Hermanus extended his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives during the stayaway, noting that the wellbeing of ‘our community and the public at large has always been our top priority, and it pains us to witness the unnecessary pain and suffering that transpired.’
He confirmed in a statement that the next 14 days will be used to focus on the release of vehicles that have been wrongfully impounded.
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