Lerato Mbhiza
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille has welcomed the agreement reached by the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town to end the devastating taxi strike.
“On behalf of the tourism sector, I wish to express our collective relief that the taxi strike in Cape Town has been called off,” said De Lille.
The protracted violent strike also dealt a heavy blow to many industries and severely impacted the lives of residents in Cape Town with children not being able to get to school, commuters not being able to get to places of work or access to other essential services like hospitals and clinics.
Almost a dozen Golden Arrow buses were torched and other private cars attacked since the taxi strike that started on 3 August 2023 and two people lost their lives after being shot allegedly by the strikers.
The strike also affected tourism and De Lille strongly condemned the action of the strikers saying she hoped that all parties do all they can to implement the agreement peacefully with no further disruptions, damage to infrastructure and attacks on people.
The loss of human life during the strike is deeply tragic and we convey our deepest condolences to all families and friends who lost their loved ones during the taxi strike violence.
“We sincerely hope that such devastating acts are never repeated again and that all organisations together with government, will work to resolve disputes amicably and within the framework of the law,” she added
“But we must all obey the rule of law and show respect for others as no one is above the law. We hope that all aspects of life, work and travel can now continue as we all work together to grow our economy and create more jobs for our people.”
De Lille also conveyed her heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the tourist who was killed in Nyanga, Cape Town last week in an incident that is believed to be related to the taxi strike.
According to reports the British tourist has been identified as Kar Hao Teoh, 40 who was shot at close range after taking a wrong turn into Nyanga as he drove from Cape Town International Airport with his wife and two-year-old son.
“I plead with law enforcement agencies to find the perpetrators of this violent crime as soon as possible,” she said.
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