By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Santaco leadership in the Western Cape is accusing City of Cape Town of impounding six of its minibus taxis over the weekend, few days after an agreement was reached to end devastating taxi strike.
Santaco provincial treasurer Ivan Waldeck said the taxi council will convene an urgent meeting on Monday to discuss the way forward.
“Friday we came to an agreement…Saturday they impounded six vehicles again, making us angry, provoking us.”
“We have an urgent meeting. Just pray that there in that meeting the way forward will be different. We decided on Friday that we are going to take the city to court. So, we are going to submit our court order and interdict against the city and the MEC,” Waldeck said.
Thousands of commuters were left stranded during the deadly taxi eight day strike which left at least five people dead.
Fullview understands that both parties seems to have different interpretations of what they agreed upon, with safety Mayco member JP Smith taking to social media at the weekend to correct “inaccurate statements” over the agreement.
This as the 14-day taxi task team was expected to meet on Monday to discuss the “new regulations” and a new chapter on how minibus taxis would operate in the province.
Smith said he had heard Santaco claiming that the agreement that brought about the end of the taxi strike last week was based on a reduction of the list of requirements for which the City and provincial traffic could impound taxis and that taxis would be released, which he said was not true.
He said the negotiations concluded that impoundments under the National Land Transportation Act (NLTA) will continue for vehicles on the road without an operating license, or on the incorrect route, or without a driver’s license, or which were not roadworthy.
“In order to avoid conflicts between enforcement staff on the road and public transport employees it is important that we are clear about exactly what was agreed to. We have agreed that the Taxi Task Team will further define a list, within 14 days, of additional major offences in terms of which vehicles will continue to be impounded in future. This will take the form of an Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to guide enforcement staff on the exercise of the discretionary power provided for in the NLTA.
The taxi association has given a strong message to the public to pray for the outcome of Monday’s meeting.