Municipality intervenes in taxi’s protest
Chaos and confusion reigned on the major roads leading into the city this morning. This was as a result of the strike action by taxi operators belonging to the G 8 taxi Association who took to the streets demanding that they be granted their own taxi rank from the main taxi rank at the Public Transport hub from which they will conduct their own business.
The government of Mpumalanga led by the Director-General, Dr. Nonhlanhla Mkhize moved swiftly to avert traffic jams and delays to motorists on the R40 and P2296 roads leading into Mbombela city on Monday.
“At the meeting with the representatives of the operators, it was agreed that a temporary station (taxi rank) be sought from where the aggrieved operators will continue to operate whilst a permanent solution is being explored. Both parties also agreed that the inconvenience caused by the blockades should be avoided at all cost as it may have easily escalated to violence,”explained municipal spokeperson Mr Joseph Nkala.
A task Team that comprises all stakeholders has been set up to continue with the work of finding a lasting solution to the current disagreements that exist amongst all taxi operators that ferry passengers to and from the city
To this end government of Mpumalanga apologizes to all road users and commuters for the inconvenience caused by the strike action. No criminal actitivies were reported at the time of going to print.
