UNTOUCHABLES Taxis demand no rules, CHAMPION SUPPORT no fines and free rein
TOUGH talks to end this week’s violent taxi strike fell flat yesterday, with the government and ethekwini municipality officials refusing to accept “senseless” demands made by taxi bosses, including that they are not subject to traffic enforcement during peak hours.
The city bus service has been halted because of the taxi drivers’ strike. The police have been deployed at hot spots and more trains laid on, while taxi drivers hold commuters to ransom until their demands are met. Among these is that they only be served fines in Zulu and that their drivers be allowed to stop anywhere they like, to pick up and drop off passengers.
After the failed crisis meetings on Friday and yesterday at the city hall, taxi bosses plan to gather this morning at Currie’s Fountain to decide if their protest will continue.
Transport MEC Willies Mchunu is expected to raise the matter with the provincial cabinet tomorrow, indicating how gravely the government views the issue.
About 60 people, including six taxi drivers, have been arrested since violence broke out on Thursday after a protest by taxi drivers against the ethekwini Metro Police.
The drivers claim that they are being treated unfairly and are “systematically targeted” by the police.
While the protest action started peacefully, it quickly turned violent.
Non-striking drivers were pulled from their minibus taxis, and many were assaulted because they refused to participate in the strike. Commuters, too, were left stranded and many were hauled out of taxis on Thursday. Several municipal vehicles and buses were stoned and roads blockaded.
Violence flared up again on Friday, with similar reports of vehicles, commuters and non-striking drivers being harassed by taxi drivers.
There were also reports that several people had been shot, but these were denied by police.
There had been fears that the strike would lead to a poor turnout at yesterday’s season-ending Premiership clash between Orlando Pirates and Lamontville Golden Arrows because supporters would not be able to make it to the Moses Mabhida Stadium. Fears proved unfounded as the game was sold out, with many taxis and buses escorted by police to the stadium.
Yesterday, about 50 protesters overturned bins and trashed the Besters taxi rank near Phoenix.
“They allegedly threw bottles at the patrol vehicles and with back-up from the flying squad, the group was dispersed,” said SA Police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker.
Should the strike not be resolved at today’s taxi meeting, businesses will continue to suffer as employees struggle to get to work because of planned protests next week.
Yesterday, the CBD was quieter than at most weekends, with shoppers seemingly concerned about going to town and how they would get home, given the violence and disruptions seen in the past two days.
Thato Tsautse, the president of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “The strike came as a surprise to the business community of Durban.
“It’s still early to quantify the economic impact, but businesses were indeed negatively impacted.”
Chamber CEO Andrew Layman said the city could not afford a continuation of the strike.
“The country’s economy is not sound anyway. There is a very urgent need for economic growth. So any disruption makes it difficult for the economy to gain momentum and puts businesses under strain.
“When there’s uncertainty people don’t know whether to lay off workers for the rest of the day, so people end up earning less. There is a kind of knock-on effect on everyone,” said Layman.
After the second of two consecutive crisis meetings, Mchunu told the Tribune that the parties had reached an impasse because it was “unfeasible” for the government to meet “unrealistic” demands.
According to several sources, among the taxi owners’ demands contained in a memorandum are: All tickets be issued in Zulu. That all present warrants of arrest be cancelled.
That there is no traffic enforcement during morning and afternoon peak hours.
That no Indians or whites must write tickets because taxi drivers don’t speak English.
That taxis only be towed if there is a road sign indicating vehicles will be towed away in that area.
That they must be allowed to pick up and drop off passengers anywhere.
A new demand tabled at the meeting was that the six arrested taxi drivers be released.
Mchunu described demands as “senseless”.
He said he spoke to KZN police commissioner General Mmamonnye Ngobeni about getting the six released, but was told it was impossible because they were now in the hands of the courts.
Transport Department spokesman Kwanele Ncalane has described the other demands as “absurd”.
KZN Transport Alliance chairman Eugene Hadebe stuck to his guns yesterday, saying no taxis would operate until the government and the metro police accepted their demands.
“In our meeting with Mchunu we requested that the drivers be released, but he said they could not be released until they appear in court. We then decided to stop all taxi operations,” he said.
Hadebe denied his organisa-
these tion was the instigator of the chaos and blamed authorities instead.
He initially expressed his willingness to answer questions, but just minutes into the interview he refused to comment, saying that a meeting would be held at Currie’s Fountain which would chart the way forward.
Deputy head of ethekwini public transport Erik Moller said most of the city’s transport services were not running, apart from a limited number of taxis in the Durban CBD and in Umlazi.
“This strike is going to have serious consequences. It’s a problem. Initially this was predominantly a taxi thing. We were hoping buses would continue to run to give passengers a certain level of service, but the intimidation has made this impossible.
“From our side we’re doing what we can, but we can’t put commuters’ lives at risk, that’s why services are temporarily halted. We hope to have the bus service running as soon as possible,” he said.
According to Moller, about 2.1 million people use the city’s bus service each month.
Meanwhile, Metrorail confirmed it was planning for a continued strike.
“We added 50 trains at the weekend. If the strike continues, we have planned for an additional 24 extra trains from tomorrow (Sunday),” said Metrorail spokeswoman Thandi Mkhize.
She added that Metrorail had beefed up its security because of the violence.
Likewise, SA Police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker said additional officers had been deployed to hotspots in the event of a flare-up of violence.
But by yesterday afternoon it was quiet. “Obviously, we are not taking any chances,” Naicker said.