Taxi strike, public violence continues in Cape Town

It has been another frustrating Monday morning, with pockets of reported public violence, and numerous road closures amid the taxi strike.

Despite a weekend of peace talks between the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape Government with the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO), the strike continues into the new work week.

It was also a deadly start to the week – one person was shot dead and three others wounded on Airport Approach Road early this morning. Taxi operators had blocked the road and allegedly pelted cars with stones. According to the police, a motorist started firing shots after his vehicle came under attack.

“Not as fruitful” weekend negotiations

On Sunday the talks came to naught, with no agreed upon solutions.

SANTACO released a statement on Sunday, announcing its “disappointment” that the talks were “not as fruitful as anticipated”. “We hereby confirm that the Taxi Stay Away will persist up to Wednesday, 9 August, as initially proclaimed,” it said.

“We emphasise our call to all SANTACO members to maintain calm and avoid any form of violence or disruption”.

City safety and security officials reported a weekend of taxi strike-related violence. It said in a statement that a municipal depot in Delft and three vehicles Makhaza, were torched. “At least seven vehicles belonging to different departments, including enforcement vehicles, were damaged or completely destroyed”.

RELATED: LEAP officer killed in Nyanga

The City says it has opened 110 criminal cases for incidents linked to the strike, since last Tuesday. “While SANTACO has attempted to distance itself from the criminal acts witnessed in the last five days, the organisation should have anticipated that calling for the strike would have resulted in this chaos – as is the case every single time – and they have to accept responsibility,” the City said.

Provincial Mobility MEC Ricardo Mackenzie said on Sunday he was disappointed the negotiations had stalled. “People have been unable to get home to their families or to work, school, shops, clinics and other critical sites. This state of affairs is unacceptable and the consequences now are severe,” he said.

“Golden Arrow Bus Services and MyCiTi, have kept running most of their scheduled services under incredibly volatile conditions, and where possible have added fleet capacity to get people home.”

[Thread] Update:

Cape Town Traffic officers are attending to incidents of public violence in the City.

The intersection of Duinefontein road and Goven Mbeki road is reopened to traffic.

The R300 is reopened to traffic.#CTInfo pic.twitter.com/pvrrMDpkfK

— City of Cape Town (@CityofCT) August 7, 2023

Monday morning chaos on City roads

City officials reported incidents of unrest early on Monday morning. “Our staff are on the ground, working with SAPS to address the violence,” it said.

The City says a number of roads are closed, which has led to a delay in traffic. “We are working to resolve these closures and ensure safe passage for commuters”.