While the dust continues to settle following two days of mayhem, businesses are counting the costs of the crippling taxi strike.
Meanwhile, the provincial government is looking at possible future solutions to deal with the problem.
The two-day strike, on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 November, was called by the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in the Western Cape in protest against the provincial government’s decision to scrap the Blue Dot project, an incentive programme to reward improved driving and good passenger service by taxi operators.
The project was introduced in September 2020 and is set to come to an end next week on Wednesday 30 November.
A staggering R215 million was pumped into the pilot project, which involved 800 mini-bus taxis.
The taxi associations are also demanding a review of the bylaws that often lead to the impounding of their vehicles.
The strike left thousands of commuters across Cape Town stranded and a trail of destruction in areas such as Khayelitsha. Buses were set alight and passenger vehicles pelted with stones in some areas. However, no serious injuries were reported.
One Golden Arrow bus was set alight on Pama Road, while a MyCiTi bus was also torched shortly before 06:00 at the Steve Biko bus stop in Japhta Masemola Road in Town Two. Both incidents occurred on Monday.
“It is a very difficult morning for Golden Arrow and our passengers,” said Bronwen Dyke-Beyers, Golden Arrow bus spokesperson.
“At the forefront of our minds are the 33 000 matrics who need to write today and all of our passengers who cannot afford to miss a day of work, but we also have no control over what is happening. We have every available employee on the ground trying to make this work, so please bear with us.”
Buses had to be escorted by law enforcement vehicles to drive around certain areas.
In a media statement the City of Cape Town said it noted the demands from Santaco and agreed formalising the industry was key to the industry’s long-term sustainability.
“Therefore, I am calling on the national minister of transport to urgently address the call for assistance,” said Rob Quintas, Mayco Member for Urban Mobility.
“The City is of the view that the National Department of Transport should take the lead in devising a strategy for formalising and modernising the minibus-taxi industry; and secondly, that the national department should provide the funding for these efforts where they are implemented – be it on the local or provincial level.”
He said the City was doing all it could – given its mandate and financial resources – to support the minibus industry.
“However, it is the responsibility of the national department of transport to address the broader challenges faced by the industry,” he said.
Ntomboxolo Makoba-Somdaka, spokesperson for provincial Minister of Mobility Daylin Mitchell, said: “It is unacceptable and a flagrant disregard of the rights of innocent commuters and citizens that after benefiting from a significant pilot investment in the mini-bus taxi industry they are now acting lawlessly and violently.”
She said the provincial government respects the rights of the minibus taxi industry to shut down, but criminal acts and wanton violence are unacceptable and the government will pursue all options to deal with this behaviour.
Makoba-Somdaka said the government ran the Blue Dot pilot programme with the mini-bus industry to demonstrate that formalisation and improved driver behaviour were possible.
“It was a success and a game changer for the industry,” she said. “In the face of a collapsing public transport system the Western Cape Government has shown, through the Blue Dot pilot programme, how it is possible to change the mini-bus taxi industry. It has taken the results of this pilot programme to the national government so it can be rolled out nationally with national funding.”
Makoba-Somdaka said the Blue Dot Taxi pilot project will officially terminate on 30 November.