‘No violence incidents were reported today,” said Daylin Mitchell, Western Cape MEC for Mobility, on Tuesday as a planned stayaway of provincial taxi services entered its second day.

The provincial structures of the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) embarked on a two-day province-wide stayaway, citing several issues, including the impounding of their vehicles and the cancellation of the Blue Dot project — an incentivised pilot scheme that saw the industry and Western Cape Department of Mobility create a system that allowed commuters to rate various aspects of their taxi experience. 

The pilot project ends on 30 November and the provincial structures of Santaco were not happy about it. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Why taxi operators are on strike in Western Cape”

During the first day of the stayaway on Monday, buses were set alight and one was hijacked. Matriculants writing their final exams who could not reach their designated exam centres were advised to instead go to the centre nearest to them.

A burnt out Golden Arrow bus in Pama Road, Khayelitsha during the taxi industry stay away on 21 November 2022 in Cape Town. (Photo: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach)

David Maynier, MEC for Education in the Western Cape, told Daily Maverick that by 5.30pm on Monday — while the stayaway by Santaco had a negative impact on schools — initial indications were that there had been no widespread disruptions of matric exams.

“Preliminary data suggests that while around 1% of our candidates were affected by the strike on Monday, these candidates were accommodated at their nearest centres where they were assisted by our staff so that they could write their exams,” said Maynier in a written response.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Western Cape taxi strike marked by ‘cowardly attacks’ on buses as commuters left stranded”

Mitchell confirmed that while there had been no incidents of violence on Tuesday, law enforcement and the SA Police Service had “escorted buses in high-risk areas such as Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Langa and surrounding areas”. 

By Tuesday afternoon, the City of Cape Town told Daily Maverick there had been no reported incidents. The Golden Arrow bus company did not report any incidents on its Facebook page, which is used to keep commuters informed of the availability of buses.

Cosatu march affected by stayaway

Due to the shutdown, the Cape Town leg of the planned nationwide public sector strike could not take place on Tuesday and had been postponed, said Cosatu provincial secretary Malvern de Bruyn.

“We call on Santaco, the Western Cape provincial government and the City of Cape Town to go back to the negotiation table in order for the parties to find an amicable solution to the impasse,” said De Bruyn in a statement.

“We are also calling on the employers to refrain from taking any action against workers if they can’t go to work in fear of their safety.” 

The public sector strike went ahead in other parts of the country.

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Fikile Mbalula responds

Daily Maverick contacted Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s office for comment on the taxi strike and asked if he was in contact with Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga about the effect on matriculants writing their final exams.

His office confirmed that he had been made aware of measures taken to ensure that no matriculants missed their exams due to compromised transport. 

“The DBE (Department of Basic Education) in the Western Cape had assured the minister that measures had been taken to communicate to all writing centres to accommodate students in their walking vicinity, to present themselves with their exam ID number and proof of identity,” said Mbalula through his spokesperson, Lwazi Khoza.

Asked for comment on the planned scrapping of the Blue Dot project and calls by the local and provincial governments for the national transport department to assist with funding for the project, Mbalula said that according to the National Land Transport Act, provincial governments were the regulatory entities for taxi operations.

“The Western Cape government has been applauded on their Blue Dot programme… it is, however, unfortunate that a feasibility study prior could not detect potential funding shortfalls — they are encouraged to approach Provincial Treasury to attempt sourcing the necessary funds.”

In a notice issued on Tuesday afternoon, Santaco thanked commuters for their “patience and understanding during the course of the stayaway action”.

Regular taxi operations will resume on Wednesday. DM