Several thousand National Taxi Alliance (NTA) members have converged on the offices of Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa, reportedly demanding the sacking of provincial minister of transport Khabisi Mosunkutu.
Johannesburg Metro Police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said about 5 000 protesters marched from Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg, to Shilowa’s offices in Simmonds Street in the city centre.
Shortly before noon they were on their way back to the square to disperse, accompanied by a large continent of Metro and national police.
No serious incidents had been reported.
Earlier, Minnaar had warned marchers that undue disruption of traffic would not be tolerated.
He encouraged the public to phone the metro police at Tel: (011) 375 5911 if they saw protesting drivers disrupting the free flow of traffic outside their designated parking area.
”We will not tolerate any unruly taxi blockades,” he warned.
Minnaar said the drivers were protesting because ”they don’t want us to impound their vehicles”.
”We will not tolerate unroadworthy vehicles.”
But organisers said safety and removing unfit drivers from South Africa’s roads are not the issues behind the two-day minibus taxi strike taking place separately from the march.
NTA general secretary Alpheus Mlalazi said it supports all government endeavours in that regard. The strike and march are to protest against taxi drivers in Gauteng being harassed for not having permits.
”We are protesting the impounding of taxis. They have not given permits because of a failure on their part,” he said shortly before the march started at about 10am.
Mlalazi said there is a national moratorium on the issuing of new permits. As a consequence, new operators have to buy permits from existing holders. But doing so often takes one to three years because of tardiness in the transport department.
Many operators feel they have no alternative but to do their business without permits.
Mlalazi said he rejected attempts by the national and provincial departments to portray the strike as a protest against the confiscation of unroadworthy vehicles.
Earlier in the morning, national Department of Transport spokesperson Ndivhuwo Mabaya said that while the department respects the right of drivers and owners to protest, commuter safety and the removal of unroadworthy taxis and unfit drivers from the road are not negotiable.
The department is, however, willing to sit down with provincial transport departments to discuss other issues and reach amicable solutions.
”We call on drivers, commuters and the public to refuse to board unroadworthy and overloaded taxis and to report them to our toll-free 0861 400 800 number,” Mabaya said.
Shilowa’s office also said it was ready to sit down with taxi drivers and operators to discuss their grievances.
”The premier is aware of their concerns. We are prepared to sit down with them and discuss and find solutions to the issues,” spokesperson Thabo Masebe said.
Metrorail, the commuter rail service, reported fuller trains in the morning. — Sapa