Taxi unrest, not protest

THE DISPLAY of utter lawlessness during Monday’s taxi strike must be condemned in the strongest terms. When violence and destruction of property reaches the levels seen this week during protests – buses stoned and torched, commuters attacked, shops looted, private vehicles damaged – it tends to take away from the legitimacy of that which is being protested.

Whatever the legitimate concerns of those participating in a protest are, they become overshadowed by the protest and sympathy for their cause wanes as a result.

But are the concerns of the taxi associations – who brought the city to a standstill when they downed tools, stranding thousands of commuters – legitimate?

Taxi owners and operators are upset about a few things.

First, there is brewing frustration over taxi impoundments and new taxi laws. Taxis are impounded if they are unroadworthy or found to be linked to outstanding fines or warrants.

So the first reasons given for the strike, and subsequent unlawful actions, pertained to laws that are meant to govern all road users and ensure their safety.

Is that considered a legitimate protest?

ANOTHER reason given was the unhappiness with the delays in the election of a new regional executive of the South African National Taxi Council. Those elections are yet to get under way.

Is it fair to subject an entire metro to disruptive, destructive and criminal protests because an oversight body cannot get its house in order?

And where are the authorities in bringing the taxi associations and their oversight body to heel?

Surely the associations cannot operate with impunity. They answer to some body who manages routes and ranks, licensing and other legal issues. And that body liaises with the local, provincial and national governments because we are all equal before the law.

We urge those in government to step in and help iron out the internal challenges facing the taxi industry because, as it often becomes clear, it appears incapable of doing so.

A city cannot be held to ransom by one arm of the public transportation system when it collapses and attacks the others.