GROUNDUP TRANSPORT WARS
Taxi drivers run riot, torch streets of Hout Bay over bus routes
Amaphela are demanding that the City compensate them for loss of income since MyCiTi started operating.
Amaphela (sedan) taxi drivers brought Hout Bay and surrounding communities in Cape Town to a standstill on Monday. The drivers have vowed to continue protesting until the City of Cape Town pays compensation they say was promised in 2009 when the Llandudno and Imizamo Yethu MyCiTi bus route was established.
More than 50 protesters blocked the roads at Imizamo Yethu Circle, Main Road and Victoria Road with stones and burning tyres demanding a meeting with City officials.
According to protesters, taxi drivers under the Hout Bay Taxi Association in 2009 had signed an agreement with the City that they would be compensated as the new bus services would operate on the route they use, impacting their client numbers.
The drivers told GroundUp that they had several meetings with the City but each time were told that payment would be made by 2014 but this never happened. They then approached an attorney in 2019 who is helping them take the battle against the City to court.
Protesters barricade streets near the traffic circle outside Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks)
Attorney Anneke Whelan said the City kept moving the goalposts on when the funds would be paid and this frustrated members of the association as they were the only ones who had not yet been paid.
Whelan said: “The City bizarrely contends that the implementation of the MyCiti bus service has caused the Hout Bay Taxi Association’s members’ business to improve.”
According to papers filed in court, the members of the association are claiming damages from the City. Depending on the size of their sedan taxi some are claiming R279,700 and others R283,000 plus interest and costs.
Drivers who spoke with GroundUp anonymously said the City’s proposal to add a new route between Hout Bay and Wynberg further jeopardises their ability to make an income. “We are not going to allow that,” said one driver.
Police dispersed protesters using rubber bullets and stun grenades. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks)
When we arrived in Hout Bay some protesters started throwing stones at the police. Police responded by using rubber bullets and stun grenades to move the crowd away from Victoria Road.
Protesters attempt to throw a vehicle into the street. They were unsuccessful. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks)
In a statement following the protest, the City said it had suspended its MyCiTi and Dial-a-Ride services in Hout Bay. This left hundreds of people who rely on the services stranded.
“We have confirmation that three MyCiTi buses have been stoned in Imizamo Yethu, one of which was petrol bombed. Thankfully, we have not been informed of any injuries to passengers or bus drivers,” said Mayco Member for Urban Mobility Rob Quintas.
In response to their demands for compensation Quintas said, “The City has been engaging with the Hout Bay Taxi Association since 2014 and will continue to do so. This matter is currently on the Western Cape high court roll, and the City is awaiting the court’s ruling on this matter.”
Police are still monitoring the area. A case of public violence has been opened. DM
A bus stop near traffic circle near Imizamo Yethu was also vandalised and partially burnt. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks)
First published by GroundUp.
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The taxi industry is out of control in South Africa. Any modern city that has the interests of its residents at heart will want to have an integrated safe transport system to get the citizens to work as cheaply and efficiently as possible. Taxis and the hoodlums that drive most of them have no right to exclusive transportation of citizens. Market forces will dictate which method of transport suits individuals’ needs.
The taxi industry is notorious for its thuggish enforcement of what they see as unalienable rights to control and flood routes. The city, provincial and policing authorities are scared of them and cannot enforce the laws governing numbers and conduct-gangsters all!
Look at how they have destroyed the commuter rail system so as to drive traffic to the taxis. It was a race between the taxis and the PRASA brigands as to who could destroy the system faster but I suspect there was a link between the two anyway.
Why engage at all? Just implement law and order
The Taxi iAssociations need to get their members into order – these are the same people who destroyed the possibility of public transportation on the railways and live on undeclared earnings. The longer they are able to incite violence and intimidation, the more it will escalate. Put a stop to it NOW!
You can judge the quality of “engagement” by the result. Clearly, it was not enough.
About time looters were shot.