Johnathan Paoli
Cape Town Premier Alan Winde on Friday laid out resolutions stemming from negotiations between the metro and the Taxi Council and said the agreement continues to allow for unroadworthy taxis, vehicles operating without a license and those using incorrect routes to be impounded under the National Land Transportation Act.
Winde tabled this at a media conference in the presence of Santaco representatives and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis where he reported about the recent resolution stemming from negotiations between the metro and the Taxi Council.
In addition, the agreement includes an “escalation system that will loop in both the Premier and Mayor in the event of a conflict as an added measure to prevent strike action”.
In the next two weeks, a list of major offences culminating in impoundment as well as minor offences culminating in fines will be drawn up by the Taxi Task Team (TTT). This attempts to clarify an issue regarding either the lack of distinction between major and minor offences, as well as what many felt is an undue severity regarding minor offences.
Santaco first deputy chairperson, Nceba Enge, said he has hope concerning the fruitfulness of the TTT sessions but added that the given time period might not be enough to sort out “some of the issues on the table”.
In addition, according to the terms of the agreement, Santaco will be able to query impoundments for minor offences, and representations will be made to a prosecutor to support the release of the vehicles.
Mayoral committee member for Transport, Rob Quintas, said he felt that the strike could have ended days ago because the agreement was almost identical to the one proposed last week.
“It feels like there was an unnecessary extension,” said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
Western Cape Mobility MEC Ricardo Mackenzie and Santaco’s Enge disagreed over certain elements surrounding the negotiations and failure to reach a conclusion speedily.
Enge said the stayaway was as a result of the violent response from law enforcement authorities, while Mackenzie blamed the threat of guns being brought to a meeting as one of the reasons for the delay in resolving issues.
Mackenzie went on to bemoan Santaco’s unreasonable expectations from the metro authorities.
“It’s a pity your vehicle is impounded, but if an operator gives his vehicle to a drunk driver and expects a traffic officer to look away… I’m sorry, but there is not a government in the world that will agree to that” he said.
The strike has been estimated to have caused roughly R50 million revenue loss per day as well as resulting in the death of five people so far.
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