Good news about looming shutdown in South Africa
The National Taxi Association (NTA) has called off its planned strikes next week, following discussions with Gauteng’s Department of Roads and Transport.
This follows a statement from the NTA on Monday, 20 July, which said a strike would occur within the next seven days.
The decision to call off the taxi strikes in Gauteng came after discussions between the NTA and the province’s Department of Roads and Transport.
The strikes were initially planned in response to taxi drivers’ inability to renew or apply for operating licenses.
Currently, the Department of Roads and Transport is experiencing a backlog in the renewal of operating licenses.
Operating licenses are used to ensure that taxi drivers are legitimate and legally compliant with road safety laws.
If a driver does not have an operating license, they can face having their vehicle impounded or hefty fines.
The department said this is due to discrepancies in the number of operators listed by taxi associations.
In one case, a taxi association had 542 listed members, while the department had recorded roughly 4,800 people as members of the association.
The department said the current operating license renewal system was necessary to prevent fraud and “ghost members.”
Taxi associations have also expressed concern over the collection of new operating licenses, which cannot be picked up at local offices.
Drivers now have to attend a central ceremony, announced by the Roads and Transport MEC, to collect their licenses.
Taxi associations said this is an unfair cost for drivers, who have to get to the ceremony at their own cost.
The NTA also alleged that Gauteng’s MEC for Roads and Transport, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, had created conflict by communicating directly with taxi operators.
The association said this bypassed normal procedures and undermined its governance structures in the province.
The NTA objected to the MEC’s actions at the time and said it could lead to violence amongst taxi associations.
The strike is called off
The decision to call off the taxi strikes in Gauteng has come after discussions between the NTA and the province’s Department of Roads and Transport.
A meeting had been arranged between the NTA, the South African National Taxi Association (SANTACO) and the department.
“We will be having a meeting that will resolve the challenges that we have identified between us,” the association said.
The Roads and Transport MEC acknowledged that there was a backlog of operating licenses, and said her department had been working to reduce it.
“There has been a backlog since 2009,” she said. “At the point where we are now, the crisis is almost over.”
She said that ongoing discussions between her department and taxi associations had been effective in addressing the backlog so far.
SANTACO’s Gauteng chairperson, Midday Mali, said the backlog was still a concern, but was hopeful about reaching a resolution with the MEC.
“We were not seeing eye to eye, but, definitely, we are going to sit around a table and check why the operating licenses are not being collected,” he said.
The MEC said they are planning to have a full day meeting to discuss all of the taxi associations’ grievances and ensure they can reach a conclusion.
She said that identifying the issues between the taxi industry and her department, as well as organising meetings between the two groups, was the reason for taxi strikes being called off.
This comes as a relief to Gauteng, which recently experienced major economic disruptions during the 30 June national shutdown.
This shutdown was due to widespread anti-immigration protests, which forced many small businesses to close for the day.
A taxi strike would represent further economic losses for the province, with many people relying on the industry for transport to and from work.
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