Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool promised protesting taxi drivers on Monday to intervene personally if their negotiations with the provincial transport ministry fail.
Rasool received a memorandum on the steps of the legislature from the Western Cape Metered Taxi Council, which was protesting against ”broken promises” from provincial transport minister Mcebisi Skwatsha.
”The minister [Skwatsha] will meet with you tomorrow [Tuesday],” said Rasool, who described metered taxis as an important part of the province’s envisaged multinodal transport system.
”We can’t call ourselves a tourist city if we don’t look after the metered taxis.”
On Monday, taxi drivers made good on threats a few months ago to blockade tourist attractions, with a cavalcade of metered sedans, two abreast at times, disrupting traffic in central Cape Town.
The cavalcade made its way from the V&A Waterfront, past the convention centre and snaked through the city’s main thoroughfares, to stop at the entrance of the provincial legislature in Wale Street.
The tail of the motorised column ended in Adderley Street.
Taxi council secretary Spencer Forbes said that since last year the provincial transport ministry has given certain undertakings but failed to meet them.
Among these is a promise to sign a memorandum of understanding between the province and the council, paving the way for a regulatory framework, and for the council’s constitution and code of conduct to be officially recognised.
Forbes said the council was unable to quell Monday’s protest because members are ”fed up”.
Another member of the council’s executive, Heinrich Speelman, said if there is no movement during talks, the situation could get worse.
”This is just a foretaste,” he said.
Speelman and others also raised the issue of limited access to Table Bay harbour, claiming that a new system discriminates against metered taxis by allowing only 50 ”walk-in permit holders” to enter the harbour at a time, while shuttle services and buses are apparently not restricted.
Among the demands of the council, contained in separate documents, are that access be granted by harbour authorities in line with National Intelligence Agency and border-control regulations; that the city provide after-hours ranks in loading zones; and that the city provide ranks outside all shopping centres, sports grounds and hotels.
The council also wants access to cruise liners at Jetty 2, and proper ranks at tourist hotspots such as Table Mountain cableway and Cape Point.
”We are the oldest land-based transport mode,” claimed Speelman. — Sapa