It’s time to get tough with taxi thugs

IT IS no coincidence that the streets of Cape Town resembled a war zone this week – as the taxi industry embarked on a two-day shutdown in the province.

Taxi strikes have become synonymous with scenes of buses being set alight, private vehicles and property being damaged, and innocent people being hurt.

In Monday's mayhem, a Golden Arrow bus was hijacked, and a Quantum van with occupants armed with petrol bombs was pulled over.

Four suspects “with strong links to the taxi industry” were arrested for the two incidents.

But isn’t this what we’ve come to expect? In fact, what is a taxi protest without public violence, commuters stranded and fearing for their safety, and businesses losing revenue?

Even the concerned union federations who had planned strike action in the city called off their march because the taxi associations could not guarantee their safety.

To the criminals who wrought this destruction, if this is what you set out to do, you have achieved your goal.

You have proved to Cape Town once again that the taxi industry is overrun by thugs who do not the deserve public support that the protest is trying to drum up. Whatever legitimacy the cause held has been invalidated by criminal behaviour.

The irony of this protest was that one of the grievances was the suspension of the province's Blue Dot programme, which rewards drivers’ improved driving behaviour.

In other words, they received cash incentives for merely abiding by traffic laws. This in itself illustrates the level of lawlessness that exists in the taxi industry – and disregard for public safety.

SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) admitted on the eve of the shutdown: “We will not be responsible for what happens on the streets, we are not marching. We will not be responsible for what happens on the highways, we are not law enforcement.”

Enough said. The government and law enforcement must now surely come to the realisation that you cannot negotiate with terrorists who do not subscribe to peaceful protest as a means to a resolution.

It’s time to get tough on the thugs. Revoke operating permits and shut down taxi routes, as was done with the problematic B97 (Mbekweni to Bellville) route.

Prosecute the culprits behind the strike chaos, and ban them from driving a taxi again.