Mpumalanga premier will meet with taxi associations again next week
Premier says this postponement will afford her and the administration an opportunity to study the contract with a view to explore a sustainable solution, and share it with all the stakeholders in the next sitting.
The taxi associations operating in the Ehlanzeni District say they will continue fighting for their demands to be met, but they are currently not planning to blockade the roads.
So said Topstar Taxi Association’s chairperson, John Mavundla. On Tuesday October 11, he said they chose to go onto the roads because they wanted to be heard by the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport (DPWRT).
About two weeks ago, the taxi operators blockaded the roads in and around Mbombela, demanding that Buscor buses operate within certain hours.
“We had tried to be heard since 2017, but they never listened until we closed the roads. We are currently doing negotiations with Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, and this means we do not have to protest. If our demands are not met, we are planning to escalate it to the minister of transport, Fikile Mbalula, and if he does not assist us, we will continue to the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa.”
Later on Tuesday they had another meeting with the premier. In a statement she said she is optimistic that efforts to bring stability in the transport sector will yield the desired outcomes. Mtshweni-Tsipane deferred the meeting to Tuesday October 18.
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On Thursday October 6, a meeting was held by the DPWRT, which served as a follow-up meeting between the two parties after the first one they had earlier on, but this one resulted in the associations escalating the matter to
Mtshweni-Tsipane. They met with the premier immediately after the meeting with the former MEC for public works, Mohita Latchminarain, because they said they were unhappy with the feedback they received.
“We want the buses to stop operating from 09:00 and only get back on the road later at about 17:00 when they collect the workers. Buscor has a subsidy and they sell tickets to their passengers, so they are able to make enough money through this. We do not want the buses to go to new villages such as Msholozi and Matsafeni, so that we can be the ones operating there,” said Mavundla.
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Buscor’s executive chairperson, Nora Fakude, told the newspaper that if they stop operating as per the permit they have from the department, they would be going against the contract they signed for this. She said the bus operators were invited to the meeting and plan to attend as per the premier’s invite.
“The issues raised by the associations are directed to the government, because they are the ones that gave us the contract. They govern us and we have a contract with them. We are simply surprised that for the past years we have managed to operate using this contract and there were no issues.”
Fakude previously told the newspaper that if they are asked to change the hours, they will have to use the legal route, which will focus on the agreed contract they signed.
