Santaco gives ANC 7-day cutoff

Santaco has given the ANC seven days to address its “urgent” issues.

The taxi association has also called for the head of transport MEC Weziwe Tikana, accusing her of not caring for the “100% black-owned” industry.

Santaco leaders expressed their frustration to ANC provincial chair Oscar Mabuyane on Wednesday after marching on the party’s headquarters in Calata House in King William’s Town. Delivering their list of grievances, Santaco Amathole chair Gabs Mtshala said Mabuyane, who is also the finance and economic development MEC, should release funds to assist the industry.

He said although some of their complaints were not a provincial government competency, issues like scholar transport had to be addressed.

“The contracts should be fixed. You find situations where we pay for our taxis for five years but the contract for scholar transport is just three years. Also the practice of hitchhiking should end because this is our business and hitchhiking is dangerous,” Mtshala said.

Siyanda Mbanjwa, a member of Santaco’s provincial execu- tive, said the ANC should consider redeploying Tikana.

Mtshala said their programme went smoothly in King William’s Town, but there were incidents in Cofimvaba, Aliwal North and Tsholomnqa.

“In Tsholomnqa some of our members were shot with rubber bullets and their cars were impounded even though they were in a taxi rank that is on the side of the road,” he said.