Cosatu slams taxi protest violence
2011-03-14 14:42
Cape Town - The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Monday condemned reports of violence by striking minibus taxi workers in Cape Town.
"The taxi bosses have a right to protest, but they must direct the protest at the government who is the cause of the problem, so taxis must go and block the city centre, not prejudice commuters, who can do nothing to solve their problems," said Cosatu's Western Cape provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich.
He wanted to know why the provincial government had not put contingency plans in place, such as making extra trains available.
"Cosatu calls on the national government, the City of Cape Town and provincial government and Metrorail to put in place an urgent plan to confront the crisis. They should also include labour, business and the taxi bosses to contribute to finding a solution," said Ehrenreich.
Stone-throwing
Taxi protests turned violent in Cape Town on Monday morning, forcing the police to fire rubber bullets at stone-throwing strikers.
One Golden Arrow bus was stoned in the Nfuleni area and nine people were arrested for public violence, said police spokesperson Warrant Officer November Filander.
"The police did fire some rubber bullets in Nyanga. There are no reports of any injuries," he said.
One person was arrested for public violence in Nyanga, while eight others were arrested in the Nfuleni area.
"There was sporadic stone throwing at vehicles," said Filander.
He said there were no minibus taxis running on the main routes in Cape Town.
- SAPA
