POLITICAL NEWS - On Thursday 29 July, the Standing Committee on Transport and Public Works convened an urgent meeting to discuss the recent disruptions in the taxi industry.
This comes after the taxi strike entered its second week, and the loss of 86 of lives this year.
MPP Mackenzie says: “We appreciate that all stakeholders came to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament and presented their views. Furthermore, SANTACO has committed to brief our Transport & Public Works Committee again, and as the mother-body for CATA and CODETA, pledged their full support in resolving the taxi conflicts once and for all.
The closure of the Belville-Mbekweni (Paarl) route by Minister Daylin Mitchell was a bold – and correct – step to take. It has brought us to a situation where we’ve reached five consecutive days of no violence and no further loss of life due to industry disruptions.
Still, we have to recognise that the impact of recent events has affected every sector of our province in its recovery during a pandemic. In many cases, it prevented people from going to work, it meant that children were unable to attend school, and left other transport operators fearing for their lives.
In the face of these exceptionally difficult circumstances, we note that the Western Cape remains the only province with no backlog in applications for public transport permits. Further, other taxi associations have been operating where permitted and the Golden Arrow Bus Service is now functioning at 95% capacity.
The City has also impounded 27 illegally operating taxis over the past two weeks and has made five arrests within that same timeframe. We will keep a strong focus on the outcome of these arrests because justice must be served and a clear message sent that criminal activity will not be tolerated.
Together with increased train and shuttle services from Metrorail, these efforts have helped mitigate circumstances in which commuters might otherwise have found themselves stranded.
Moving forward, we eagerly await the outcome of the arbitration process involving CATA and CODETA, along with the relevant recommendations. Our role from the legislature is to monitor these outcomes, along with the response from all three spheres of government – local, provincial, and national.
This is why we have requested a briefing twice a month from roleplayers and government, so as to evaluate outcomes against the goal of achieving safe, peaceful conditions for Western Cape commuters.
Along with counterparts at the National Assembly, we must also review legislation relevant to the taxi industry in particular. In some cases, national legislation is 12 years old, and of course our context has changed over time.
We need to make sure the regulations are relevant to the challenges we now face, and critically, assess whether law enforcement – at any level – has the necessary teeth to both prevent and address illegal taxi operations.”
This industry forms a key part of the lifeblood of our daily economic activities. Moving forward, as our cities and communities grow and require more transportation, it is essential that that people, goods and services are able to commute efficiently without any hindrance.
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