VIDEO: Heavy police presence as taxi strike protesters reach department

The police used stun grenades in Bloed and Paul Kruger streets in Pretoria to disperse protesters, the Pretoria East Record reported.

Minibus taxi operators and blockaded roads throughout the city disrupting service delivery and school exams.

The protesters are calling for Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi to be fired for failure to attend to their grievances.

Members of the National Taxi Alliance gathered outside the transport department head office in Struben Street singing and chanting as they waited for a department representative to submit their memorandum to amid a heavy police presence.

Their grievances include:

• The money they get for scrapping their old taxis under the taxi recapitalisation programme is not enough for them to purchase new ones.
• They want dedicated lanes for taxis or to be allowed to use bus lanes.
• They worry that the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto), which earns drivers demerits points for traffic violations, will affect owners instead of drivers.

According to a provincial police spokesperson, two drivers have been arrested for assaulting a policewoman who was trying to get them to move their vehicles off the road in Cullinan during the protest.

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