The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in the Eastern Cape has distanced itself from the planned shutdown and movement restrictions in key parts of the province.
Sources claim that the taxi council was the main organiser of the shutdown, which was scheduled to start on Thursday.
At the centre of the shutdown is the alleged non-payment of scholar transport service providers.
Santaco chairperson Bishop Yolelo stated that the council has heard through social media that public transport operators intend to park their vehicles.
However, Yolelo said the taxi council would not participate in the shutdown and restriction of movement in the major town of the Eastern Cape.
Safety of commuters
“While we acknowledge the existing challenges surrounding overall government regulation and support of our industry, we believe there should be more cordial avenues pursued to ensure that harm isn’t caused as concerns are being registered,” said Yolelo.
“We confirm our concerns over the non-payment of scholar transport service providers and that the matter is being attended to.
“We committed to ensuring the safety of all commuters wishing to utilise our services with the help of law enforcement.”
The department of transport in the province has called on scholar transport providers to reconsider their plans for a total shutdown.
“Such an action will be illegal, and anyone caught involved in it will face the wrath of the law,” cautioned the department.
Technical challenges cited
Dozens of taxi drivers have no affiliation with the government scholar transport programme, according to a statement from the department.
“The Eastern Cape department of transport wishes to assure the scholar transport operators and the public at large that the challenge is not with the unavailability of funds but rather some technical challenges that it continues to tackle.”
The department claims that some operators’ refusal to sign contracts when asked to do so in January and February is partially to blame for the delay, and that other operators’ concerns about the SA Revenue Service are also a contributing factor.
“To date, a sizeable percentage of legitimate invoices have already been settled, while outstanding and legitimate invoices will be paid during the course of the month,” the department said.
R5.9m to be paid on Friday
It added that the next run of payments, amounting to R5.9-million, is scheduled for Friday, with payments expected to reflect on May 8.
The next payment has been scheduled for May 15 to settle the payments from January to date.
“The Eastern Cape department of transport has pledged to ensure that the deadline set for May 15 is met.
“The department has also challenged operators to ensure they also play their part in assisting the process by ensuring that the invoices that they submit are legitimate and have all the supporting documents.”
