Hundreds of commuters were left stranded on Thursday as taxi drivers on the routes between Johannesburg and Pretoria went on strike due to a wage dispute, Johannesburg metro police said.
”The taxi drivers who would be transporting for Johannesburg and Pretoria are not doing so,” said Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.
Minnaar said the drivers were at the Noord Street taxi rank in central Johannesburg and that the situation was ”very peaceful”.
Stranded commuters were trying to use buses and trains.
National Taxi Association chairperson Sicelo Mabaso said drivers decided on Wednesday they would strike until their dispute was resolved. He did not know if they had applied for a legal permit to conduct the strike.
”Quite a number” of commuters were affected, he said.
Mabaso said drivers were also unhappy about a system that had been implemented on their route, whereby commuters paid using a card system instead of cash.
”It’s a pilot [project]. If it goes okay it might be implemented on other routes.”
Mabaso said the aim of the system was to minimise the exchange of cash between commuters and drivers.
Drivers were unhappy with this because ”they utilise the cash that is in hand. If there is no more cash they see no more incentive in driving the taxi”.
Mabaso said he did not know when the dispute would be resolved, but he said it would require a compromise between management and the drivers.
”They will sit down and resolve this thing … they must meet halfway.”
Gauteng traffic registrar Sam Ledwaba said he could not comment on the protest. ”That is an employer-employee relationship. We are not party to that,” he said.
Also on Thursday, a planned illegal march by disgruntled taxi drivers to the Kempton Park Taxi Association offices was apparently called off.
According to earlier reports in the Sowetan, the drivers were to march because there was unhappiness that some groups had been relegated to the less profitable Kempton Park to Tembisa routes, instead of routes going to Johannesburg, Pretoria, Germiston and the OR Tambo Airport.
Metro police spokesperson Mveli Nhlapo said the drivers had decided not to march on Thursday because it would be an illegal gathering.
Johannesburg police spokesperson Captain Jethro Mtshali said police had heard rumours of the march and were monitoring the area, but said nothing was taking place on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday night, shots were fired at a minibus taxi near a taxi rank on William Nicol Drive in Fourways, Johannesburg. The driver was unhurt, said paramedics Netcare 911.
Violence
Earlier this month, an illegal march by 50 members of the Kempton Park Taxi Association turned violent when they blockaded Tembisa roads, robbing at least one motorist and slashing the tyres of two cars.
The Daily Sun on Thursday reported on threats of protests by drivers competing over routes between Sebokeng, Evaton and Palm Springs to Vanderbijlpark.
Ledwaba said the United Taxi Association had been threatening last week to go and invade routes. Ledwaba said the dispute went back to 1997 when all taxi associations were registered to run on specific routes.
After this registration, a taxi association called the United Taxi Association emerged and began invading routes that the Civic Centre Taxi Association was registered to run on.
The matter went to court. About two weeks ago the court ruled that the United Taxi Association needed to be given routes. An appeal against this ruling has been filed, said Ledwaba. He said since the ruling the association was now threatening to invade the routes.
”There was a decision that was handed down that we need to give United routes. [This was] in error because the routes belong to Civic Centre Taxi Association.”
”We as government cannot be seen to be fuelling violence,” said Ledwaba.
”We cannot have United coming in to invade … We are in close contact with the police [and they will] monitor the routes. We have been told there are some incidents of violence taking place. We leave that to law enforcement.”
Police spokesperson Inspector Kinnie Steyn said that last Wednesday violence had erupted in Vanderbijlpark between the two associations.
She said a shot was fired into a taxi belonging to the Civic Centre Taxi Association. The shot ”seemed” to come from people associated with the United Taxi Association.
No one was injured as nobody was in the taxi at the time, but six people were arrested for malicious damage to property. The charges were later withdrawn because there was no evidence linking the people to the crime.
As police were leaving the scene of the shooting, two members of the rival associations became involved in an argument and were arrested for assault.
The police’s taxi violence unit was busy investigating the case.
Last week police also impounded six taxis belonging to the United Taxi Association after they were found operating on routes for which they were not registered.
Steyn said since last Wednesday there had been no taxi violence in Sebokeng, Evaton or Vanderbijlpark.
”Everything is under control and quiet. We are really keeping a close eye … on the situation.” — Sapa