By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in Ekurhuleni has announced that taxi operations in the area will resume after their protest action over impounding of vehicles.
EMPD impounded 17 taxis for various offences including illegal operations and vehicle roadworthiness.
The past two days commuters were left stranded after the disruption of local taxis in Ekurhuleni. The taxi operators were complaining that fines of up to R5 000 per vehicle are crippling.
Taxi bosses and officials met in Pretoria to find a resolution to the taxi strike and a way forward together through consultation.
During the media in Pretoria, MEC of Transport Kedibone Diale-Tlabela says the taxi industry has agreed to resume services this afternoon.
“What is important is for us to apologise to those who have been inconvenienced by lack of services since yesterday and this morning. And we are happy that we have reached a settlement with the taxi industry in Ekurhuleni.”
“And importantly to us is to deal [with] the issues that they have raised and amongst those issues is how do we make sure that there is law and order within public transport operations in our province,” said Diale-Tlabela.
Santaco has apologized for the inconvenience caused and continues dialogue with the government for a speedy resolution.
SANTACO regional secretary, Zweli Mnisi said, “A parallel process will be undertaken to engage and interact to resolve all the issues that we have raised with her and hope that by the end of the day we will find one another.
The taxi industry is the biggest public transporter of people in South Africa and completes an estimation of approximately 15 million per day across the country.