Cape Town taxi strike 'calm'

2011-03-15 11:06

Cape Town - Areas affected by Cape Town's minibus taxi strike were calm on Tuesday morning as metro police monitored violence and intimidation, the city's traffic department said.

"Metro police were deployed to the hotspots...Mfuleni, Khayelitsha, Crossroads and Nyanga to monitor the situation," said city spokesperson Kylie Hatton.

"We had a bus stoned at 05:00 in Khayelitsha but nobody was injured and there was no substantial damage to the bus," she said.

Violence erupted overnight when a bus was set alight and cars stoned. The bus driver was injured and admitted to hospital.

Protest

SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) members are protesting against the red tape and "sloppiness" around the issuing of operating licences by the provincial government and to protest against "draconian" traffic laws.

Santaco secretary general Philip Taaibosch said authorities regularly impounded taxis without good reason.

He said the strike would continue until the Western Cape provincial government addressed key complaints from taxi industry.

Hatton said there was a small increase in taxi services to certain areas, although taxi commuters were mostly left stranded.

"We are nowhere near a 50% service...however, Mitchell's Plain didn't embark on a strike and are operating internally," she said.

"We are also seeing a functioning service on the West Coast in Atlantis and Dunoon."

Hatton said there was partial transport service in other areas near the Belville interchange, although buses were not using the interchange itself for fear of intimidation.

A meeting was scheduled with Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele for midday on Tuesday in an attempt to reach an agreement.

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