Brace for another day of Western Cape taxi strike after Santaco-government talks collapse

6 Aug 2023

Western Cape commuters have again been left in limbo as talks to halt the ongoing taxi strike could not deliver any good news on Sunday. This comes after a weekend of sporadic violence, including the murder of a law enforcement officer on Friday and the torching of more vehicles

Talks between the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) and the Western Cape Government (WCG) failed to resolve the taxi strike impasse on Sunday evening.

This means the taxi stayaway continues until 9 August as planned.

City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility Roberto Quintas and Western Cape MEC of Mobility Ricardo Mackenzie met with Santaco Western Cape leadership on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

At Friday’s meeting, the WCG said it put forward a proposal to alleviate the impact of vehicle impoundments on taxi operators, while it worked to resolve the complex challenges surrounding operating licences and other issues.

Santaco took this proposal to its members on Saturday for internal engagement.

“At the latest meeting on Sunday afternoon, further progress was made with resolving the ongoing minibus taxi strike, until the suspension of negotiations in the early evening,” the WCG said.

“Both City and provincial governments are committed to further urgent engagement with Santaco leadership in the interest of resolving the current situation. All parties have reiterated the call for calm and for no further violence and that there should be no interference with other public transport operators,” it said.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Taxi industry and City of Cape Town harden their stances amid strike violence and mayhem

Santaco said it went to the meeting in good faith and availed itself to engage robustly with government officials to seek a timely and amicable resolution to the ongoing stayaway.

“While our intentions were to engage constructively and collaboratively, it is with profound disappointment that we must relay that the discussion was not as fruitful as anticipated. However, we remain resolute in our commitment to finding a resolution.”

The union urged its members not to participate in any acts of violence or intimidation and condemned acts of public violence.

Santaco wants its impounded minibus taxis to be returned without having to pay fines; a dedicated traffic lane like that of the MyCiTi bus to avoid taxis having to cross the yellow barrier line during peak hours; and a moratorium on the conditions applied to Operating Licences while Santaco returns to the Minibus Taxi Task Team.

The WCG was willing to compromise on the new traffic by-law and cease impoundments on “minor” infringements such as broken mirrors, but said it will continue to impound vehicles for “serious infringements”.

Mackenzie said: “Alongside the City of Cape Town, we put forward a proposal on Friday to alleviate the impact of impoundments on taxi operators, while we resolve the complex challenges around operating licences and other issues.

“Unfortunately, Santaco’s additional demands are not legally implementable and would require longer-term engagements with national government and other role players. At this point, we are left with very few options if Santaco will not return to the table and resume the joint work of our Minibus Taxi Task Team.”

Court interdict

Golden Arrow Bus Services, six of whose buses have been torched since the beginning of the Western Cape taxi strike, managed to get a court interdict on Sunday afternoon preventing Santaco members from intimidating, harassing, threatening or interfering with the bus service, its employees and passengers.

“Santaco must take all reasonable steps to ensure that [Golden Arrow Bus Services] can operate without interference,” reads the order.

Read more on Daily Maverick: Day 2 of Western Cape taxi strike begins with shot bus driver, burning tyres, fresh scramble to get to work

“[Golden Arrow Bus Services] has one primary objective and that is to provide safe and reliable transport to Cape Town’s commuters,” said Golden Arrow Bus Services general manager Derick Meyer.

“We, therefore, approached the high court as a result of the intimidation and harassment as well as acts of vandalism directed towards our employees, passengers and buses following the announcement of a taxi strike on Thursday.”

Golden Arrow Bus Services has stopped operating in Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Philippi East, Langa and Mfuleni owing to the vandalism of buses and threats to drivers and passengers.

Violence continues

Acts of violence continued on Friday evening with law enforcement officer Zanikhaya Kwinana (33) being brutally killed after the vehicle he was travelling in was struck by 13 bullets in Nyanga.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie said preliminary information reveals that Kwinana was a passenger in the back of a vehicle when an unknown gunman opened fire while they were travelling along Miller Road en route to Bishop Lavis.

“They noticed that the deceased sustained gunshot wounds to the head and sped off to the Heideveld day hospital where the officer was declared deceased,” Pojie said.

“Possibility that the attack is related to the ongoing taxi strike cannot be ruled out. However, the motive forms part of the ongoing investigation. The officers were part of members performing crime prevention patrols to quell taxi-related incidents that have unfolded in the province.”

Police are investigating a case of murder and two attempted murders.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has authorised a reward of R250,000, the maximum payable, for information that can lead to a breakthrough in the murder.

Another person died in Mfuleni on Saturday when members of the community looted a delivery truck and pelted security guards with stones.

“Public Order Police [POP] responded to stabilise the situation later, after the body of a man and an injured woman who allegedly sustained gunshot wounds were discovered on the scene,” Pojie said.

“POP had to use stun grenades to disperse the riotous crowd.”

On Saturday, numerous incidents that appeared to be related to the ongoing taxi strike were reported.

A City of Cape Town depot in Delft was petrol-bombed. At least seven vehicles belonging to different municipal departments, including enforcement vehicles, were damaged or completely destroyed.

Three vehicles were torched in Makhaza and one in Strand.

On the same day in Atlantis, City traffic officers responded to reports of public violence.

“On arrival, a taxi, seeing the enforcement vehicle, made a U-turn and sped off,” said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith.

“The officers gave chase, assisted by the SAPS, and when the taxi was brought to a stop, officers found the vehicle loaded with tyres and arson implements. Six suspects were arrested on various charges.”

Smith said at least 110 criminal cases have been registered for incidents relating to the strike.

“While Santaco has attempted to distance itself from the criminal acts witnessed in the last four days, the organisation should have anticipated that calling for the strike would have resulted in this chaos – as is the case every single time – and they have to accept responsibility.”

Impacting livelihoods

Yamkela Siko, a resident of Khayelitsha, said: “I work at a call centre, and it is difficult to get employment as a result of the strike. I think our firm should make sure that they provide the equipment to our homes so we can work from home.

“The terrible fact is that not everyone has Wi-Fi at home, which makes this strike particularly demanding for the many people it has impacted, including myself.

“Golden Arrow is really helpful to us; however, it is unfair that the taxis usually include government buses, which the majority of us take to get to and from work. My daily routine is being severely interrupted by the taxi drivers’ attacks on our reliable source of transportation.”

Speaking to Daily Maverick, Mfuleni resident Noah Onismo said: “I’m a local plumber, and I only visit the city for purchases for supplies. My phone died while I was stranded in town for the first time. I had groceries to buy in addition to calling my family, who were waiting for me to return, but I was unable to do either.

“It was quite challenging for me to walk home. Now that [the violence] is breaking more regularly; the violence keeps me from working. It’s dangerous for a self-employed person like me because there have been shootings and attacks on cars and authorities,” he said.

“The strike severely prevents me from finishing my work. It has severely impacted how I work to put food on the table.” DM

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South Africa

Court interdict

Violence continues

Impacting livelihoods