Johnathan Paoli
Santaco will not be attending the first meeting of the Taxi Task Team meeting which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, amid anger and confusion over the continued impoundment of its vehicles.
The taxi umbrella body said the City of Cape Town has impounded 14 taxis since the strike was called off, with eight on Friday, and a further six vehicles being impounded on Saturday.
There has been speculation around the reasons why the taxis were impounded including the fact that there were problems associated with the agreements, the absence of adequate time preparation given to align the metro chain of command in terms of implementation of the terms as well as the lack of change to the culture surrounding implementation.
Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith, has maintained that the impounding was done in accordance with the agreement reached, confirming that barring one vehicle, all other impoundments were done due to vehicles driving without an operating license, on the incorrect route, without a drivers license or PDP, or which are not roadworthy.
“We also cannot allow leadership in Santaco to misrepresent the facts of the agreement to taxi owners or drivers (e.g. by telling them that no vehicles may be impounded as was done during this past weekend) as this creates the conditions for confrontation on the streets when officers implement the exact agreement Santaco accepted last week,” Smith said.
Santaco Secretary Ryno Saaiers, is adamant that the postponement of the Task Team meeting was necessary in order to clarify to its members exactly what was agreed upon in negotiations.
“The meeting further requested the postponement of the planned Task Team meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday. This was needed to allow the leadership to engage with the members as to what precisely was agreed upon in the agreement with the Government,” Saaiers said.
Saaiers further went on about the decision by Santaco to explore court interventions surrounding the dispute between the parties.
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