Feuding taxi organisations in the Western Cape have pledged peace as provincial transport minister Mcebisi Skwatsha announced the reopening of violence-racked taxi ranks closed a week ago.
The chairperson of the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata), Alfred Maseti, and his counterpart at the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta), John Speelman, flanked Skwatsha at a media briefing on Monday.
Both Cata and Codeta expressed confidence in the negotiated settlement and said they reject violence.
Maseti and Speelman said they will meet with their members to convey the terms of the agreement, which came into effect on Tuesday.
”The lifting of the closure is not done unconditionally,” said Skwatsha.
He said taxi operators without the necessary authority or licences have been given until May 30 to apply for interim licenses in order to regulate their operations.
Skwatsha said those found guilty of contravening their operating conditions and other regulations governing public transport face prosecution.
This includes those taxi operators without licenses ferrying commuters along the following routes:
- from Khayelitsha to Cape Gate Mall and return;
- from Bloekombos, Wallacedene, Scottsdene and Northpine to Cape Gate and return;
- from Bellville to Cape Gate and return; and
- from Kraaifontein to Cape Gate and return.
Skwatsha issued an emergency proclamation last week closing certain taxi ranks following unsuccessful attempts at resolving a dispute between Cata and Codeta, precipitated by the opening of the Cape Gate mall.
At least four people died in shootings related to the dispute.
On Monday, Skwatsha said he has not been facilitating negotiations with a gun against his head.
He said the impression that in the taxi industry ”hooligans” reach for their guns ”in the wink of an eye” is not true.
”This is a unique industry, it is 100% black-owned” and has not been catered for by the previous government, he said of the industry, which has a central role in the country’s economy.
Skwatsha said plans are afoot to improve the plight of the taxi industry in the Western Cape, such as fast-tracking licences from the operating licence board.
He also called for better planning and coordination between all spheres of the government and the private sector, so that when new developments such as Cape Gate are built, a transport plan is also drawn up. — Sapa