The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Transport, Ms Mina Lesoma, has welcomed the suspension of the week-long taxi strike in the City of Cape Town by the South African Taxi Council (SANTACO) on Thursday evening.

SANTACO announced late last night that it has reached an agreement with the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town, and that necessitated an immediate suspension of the strike.

Ms Lesoma said: “Although not privy to the details of the agreement this is good news especially for the commuters. The leadership that has been shown by all involved especially the taxi industry is most welcome. We urge the City of Cape Town not to renege and make unilateral statements that will affect so many people as happened last week.”

Ms Lesoma said this was a lesson that all should take to heart, and should be considered when improvements and planning is contemplated in the public transport space. She emphasised a call that the citizens needed to be involved when public input was sought on legislation and municipal by-laws.

The people of the City of Cape Town especially poor people were the most victims of all forms of the painful consequences of the strike. They walked long distances, to and from work, on foot and with serious threat of job loses. Five people sadly lost their lives in the mayhem, a number of busses, private cars, business centres and a clinic in Site C were burnt.

Ms Lesoma said what happened was unfortunate and should never happen again and that the City of Cape Town needed to be transparent about reasons for impounding minibus taxis.

“Everything possible should be done to make sure that there is certainty in the taxi industry especially that so many people in townships rely on effective taxi service for commuting between workplaces and their homes, and as well as learners who attend school in town,” added Ms Lesoma.

Source: Parliament of South Africa