After two days of a taxi strike, taxi operations in Ekurhuleni have resumed, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) confirmed.
Santaco’s Ekurhuleni secretary, Zweli Mnisi, said the taxi operations have resumed while its leadership continues to engage with the government over the issue of the impounding of their taxi vehicles.
“The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in Ekurhuleni wishes to inform the public that all taxi operations have now resumed following yesterday’s temporary service halt.
Talks with government continue
“Taxi operations in Ekurhuleni have now resumed. While leadership continues dialogue with government to ensure a speedy resolution of the matters raised. We sincerely apologise to all commuters who were left stranded. We recognise the immense inconvenience this
caused, and assure you that this was not an easy decision for us to take.
“However, the halt was necessary in light of the continued heightened impoundments of taxi vehicles by government authorities. The same authorities that take unreasonably long to issue operating licenses. And they continue to face backlogs that remain unresolved,” said Mnisi.
“Operators have been forced to absorb hefty financial losses. Not only through the repeated impoundments but also through the excessive release fees demanded. Furthermore, the current practice does not allow these tickets to be challenged fairly in a court of law. Thus leaving operators without proper recourse.
Impounding of unlicenced minibuses
“The decision to suspend operations was made in the interest of highlighting these injustices. Even though we are deeply aware of the impact on commuters. Now that operations have resumed, we remain committed to serving the people of Ekurhuleni. And we continue to call for a fair, transparent, and efficient licensing system. We thank commuters for their patience and understanding,” said Mnisi.
Commuters in Ekurhuleni, particularly those in Katlehong and Germiston, were left stranded on Thursday and Friday. This was when taxi operators in the area went on strike due to the impoundment of their vehicles by government authorities.
“This difficult decision stems from the ongoing impoundment of vehicles. Particularly the 10-seater “baby buses”. These are consistently being targeted for not having operating licenses,” said Mnisi on Thursday.
Licences saga results in hefty fines
“These licenses, however, are no longer being issued by the relevant authorities. And this leaves operators without any legal recourse. As a result, taxi operators are compelled to pay hefty fines of up to R5,000 per vehicle to retrieve their vehicles. This is an unsustainable cost that is crippling the viability of their businesses.
Meanwhile, the Friday 3pm media briefing wherein Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi and provincial roads and transport MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela were expected to provide an update on the taxi operations across the province, including the latest developments in Ekurhuleni amid the taxi strike there, has been postponed.
Lesufi’s spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the media briefing was postponed because “there were many meetings”.
“The meetings continued past the anticipated time. We are looking at 10am on Sunday [new date]. But we will confirm everything tomorrow [Saturday].”
Gauteng’s deputy provincial commissioner for police Maj-Gen Fred Kekana was supposed to be part of the media briefing. He was expected to provide an update on the establishment of the SAPS Gauteng Political Killings Task Team.
The media briefing was supposed to take place at 3pm on Friday at the Gautrain Offices in Midrand, Gauteng.
