Mbalula takes a sho’t left

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula cancelled a meeting yesterday with taxi operators who have been negotiating to be allowed to carry more passengers and cross provincial borders during the coronavirus restrictions.

“The minister needs to hear from the National Coronavirus Command Council [NCCC] what their final decision will be regarding interprovincial travel, as well as the 100% loading capacity that the taxi industry is asking for,” said Mbalula’s spokesperson Ayanda Allie-Paine.

“That’s only going to happen on Tuesday,” she said, adding that any decision would need to be signed off as a directive.

She said Mbalula did not have the power to make and sign off these decisions by himself.

The postponement dismayed taxi operators who feel they have gone the extra mile to keep the economy going by providing public transport during the pandemic when trains have not been running.

They say their income has taken a hit, particularly during lockdown Level 5, when their operating hours and movements were severely restricted.

Western Cape SA National Taxi Council provincial secretary Nazeem Abdurahman said drivers had lost a lot of income from operating with fewer passengers.

The council had proposed that if passengers wore masks, used sanitiser and windows were open in taxis it should be safe to run at 100% capacity for trips no longer than 30 minutes.

They also feel that the proposed compensation for income lost during lockdown of about R5 000 per operator was far too little, given how hard they had worked to keep people moving and how much they had lost by the enforced 70% passenger limit.

They also argued that reducing the numbers on long-distance taxis was inconsistent with allowing flights, where people sat next to each other in confined spaces and could not open windows.

South African National Taxi Council spokesperson Thabisho Molelekwa said taxi operators were due to conduct a virtual meeting at to discuss Mbalula’s bailing on yesterday’s meeting.

This would be followed by a press conference so commuters would know what to expect this week.

The spectre of a taxi strike plays havoc with workers’ travel plans and work attendance records. Allie-Paine reiterated that Mbalula did not have the power to make decisions by himself and that they had to go through the NCCC. – News24 Wire

Taxi operators have lost a lot of income from operating with reduced passengers.

Nazeem Abdurahman

W Cape SA National Taxi Council provincial secretary