Western Cape premier Alan Winde has called for an end to the violence coinciding with the taxi strike in Cape Town which has left thousands of commuters stranded, claiming at least two lives and disrupted services and schooling in the province.
Winde has welcomed the SA National Taxi Council’s (Santaco’s) condemnation of the violence, adding that a resolution to the dispute is urgent. This also comes at a time when several health facilities have been closed or have suspended services as staff anre unable to get to work. Elective surgeries remain suspended o at Tygerberg, Red Cross and Groote Schuur hospitals. Clinics and community health centres are closed at Philippi, Nyanga, Crossroads, Nolungile and Gugulethu.
Airports Company SA (Acsa) has advised passengers booked on domestic flights to arrive two hours before their flight departed and international travellers at least four hours at Cape Town International Airport.
Western Cape education MEC David Maynier says the strike prevented 456,020 learners and 17,449 staff from attending school on Monday. That was a significant increase on the 287,000 learners and 9,500 staff who were absent on Friday. Twenty-seven schools had to close on Monday and a number of other schools allowed learners to leave early.
Police have arrested 35 people for alleged violence related to the ongoing taxi strike on Monday. Of the arrests, 27 were related to a taxi blockade on the N2 that caused major traffic disruptions.
The city says eight taxi drivers have been arrested at Mfuleni.
Santaco says it will continue with its strike in the Western Cape after talks initiated to resolve the impasse collapsed at the weekend.
Chaos erupted in Cape Town last week when Santaco abruptly halted all minibus taxi operations in the Western Cape after an impasse with City of Cape Town authorities. This followed a blockade by taxi operators on Tuesday in response to the impounding of about 15 vehicles.
The situation escalated into clashes with police and metro police who used stun grenades to disperse crowds and smashed a window of a taxi to extract protesters. More than 200,000 commuters were affected by the halt in public transport services.
Since then the council and government embarked on talks to resolve the issues but these were suspended on Sunday.
On the same day Golden Arrow Bus Services obtained an urgent temporary court interdict against the taxi council in a bid to halt threats, intimidation and damage to its fleet in Cape Town.
At least six of the company’s buses have been torched since the strike started on Thursday, and a driver was shot and injured in Khayelitsha. Another bus was reportedly set ablaze on Monday morning.
A heavy police contingent was deployed along the approach road to Cape Town International Airport.
Winde called for an urgent resolution to the dispute.
