Western Cape’s B97 route reopens after taxi associations agree to share

The Western Cape government has officially reopened the B97 route between Mbekweni in Paarl and Bellville, nearly 18 months after its closure.

The B97 was closed in July 2021 due to violence incidents that occurred on the affected routes as a result of tensions between the Paarl Alliance Taxi Association (PATA), which is affiliated the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta), and the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata).

The tensions between the taxi associations, who were in dispute over control of the lucrative route in Cape Town, saw more than 80 people being killed, prompting the provincial government to intervene.

Golden Arrow buses were allowed to operate between Bellville and Paarl as a contingency plan due to the violence.

Agreement

Following peace talks that took place in November last year, the associations have since agreed to share the route.

The memorandum of agreement signed by the parties outlines how the allotted operating licences will be divided and how the associations will operate on the route.

“Both associations have legal rights to trade on this route. The associations have agreed to co-exist and to jointly provide the services authorised by their operating licences.

“It is important to note that most longstanding agreements are reached by consensus between the parties and not when conditions are imposed by government,” Western Cape transport MEC Daylin Mitchell said at the reopening event on Thursday.

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“Pursuant to this agreement, the Drakenstein Municipality and the City of Cape Town have agreed to support additional operating licence applications to create a more equitable balance between minibus-taxi supply and demand.”

Although the current closure period was supposed to end on 26 December, Mitchell said the route would open with immediate effect.

He also said the provincial government would continue to monitor the route.

“This conflict has been ongoing for more than 20 years and this is a watershed moment that will hopefully set a good precedent for the minibus taxi industry. We will intervene if necessary in the interests of commuter safety.”

I used the opportunity to personally handover operating licences to legal operators to mark the official opening of Route #B97 @WCGovTPW pic.twitter.com/JCbMTxBfBZ

— Daylin Mitchell (@Speaker_DaylinM) December 8, 2022

Meanwhile, South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) Western Cape chairperson Mandla Hermanus appealed for “zero illegal operators” and “zero recruitment” on the route B97.

Hermanus further urged asks that illegal operators be reported to the regional leadership.

Taxi violence

Cata lost two of its leaders last year after Bongani Raneki died when his vehicle overturned on the R61 outside Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape, while Victor Wiwi was shot and killed in Nyanga.

Taxi violence has also plagued parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

Five drivers were shot dead while seven people were injured in Johannesburg in May this year. The five died in three separate shootings in Soweto and Faraday.

READ MORE: Commuters concerned over taxi violence in KZN’s Ugu

The killings were alleged to be connected to the rivalry between the Nancefield Dube West Taxi Association (Nanduwe) and the Witwatersrand African Taxi Owners Association (WATA) over routes.

Nanduwe and WATA previously blamed the Gauteng government for the violence because the associations allegedly allocated the same routes and operating licences.

In October last year, four minibuses were torched in the Johannesburg inner city while two Nanduwe members were shot dead near Nancefield hostel in Soweto over routes in 2020.

Two taxi bosses, under Imbali 14, 18 and BB Taxi Associations, were gunned down in Pietermaritzburg, KZN earlier this year.