Taxi strike hits tourism: Tourists stranded amid chaos and violence

As the disruptive Cape Town taxi strike blocked parts of the city and airport routes yesterday, these protest actions may result in reversing the country’s tourism successes.

The taxi strike, which began last week, turned deadly after two people were killed yesterday and three others injured near Cape Town International Airport.

Now, the United Kingdom and United States have issued travel warnings to their citizens.

The UK specifically warned, “strikes have the potential to turn violent and may impact multiple areas, including journeys to and from the airport”.

Leaving thousands of commuters stranded, drivers of minibus taxis – the main mode of transport for millions of South Africans – blocked roads after clashes with city authorities.

Democratic Alliance shadow minister of tourism Manny de Freitas said with the UK being one of SA’s biggest tourism markets, the travel alert was of particular concern.

“A taxi strike which attempts to halt Cape Town has a direct impact on various sectors, including tourism. The travel alert issued by the UK is a direct example,” he said.

De Freitas said the protest action by taxi drivers “may well dramatically” reduce the number of tourists visiting Cape Town and the Western Cape.

Members of the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) went on strike last week over a municipal bylaw which gave the city the power to impound vehicles over offences such as driving without a licence, not displaying registration plates, or overloading.

Santaco claimed 6 000 vehicles had been impounded since the beginning of the year, and stated they’ve been “left with no other option” due to “the frivolous impoundment operations”.

Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said yesterday they would not “negotiate with a gun to our heads”.

He added: “There can be no further discussions with local Santaco leadership until their violence stops. Simple. We call on Santaco to stop the violence immediately.”

Chief economist at Efficient Group Dawie Roodt said this kind of protest action would certainly impact on the economy.

“Tourism is one of those industries that we can really improve quite a lot and gain a lot of economic activity, but I am afraid these kinds of actions are just not good for tourism.”

He said it was important to remember SA was far away from were major tourists come from and if tourists had a choice between going to SA and another place, they would consider a place less dangerous.

“We should also keep in mind this is all happening in an environment with very weak economic growth and high levels of unemployment and poverty. This would only exacerbate all those bad things,” he said.

Southern Africa Tourism Services Association’s chair Oupa Pilane said industry WhatsApp groups had been busy, as stakeholders shared “on-the-ground updates and up-to-date advice” to help operators to travel to and from the airport.

“It is a great pity that Capetonians and visiting tourists must endure this disturbance,” he said.

“In the medium- to long-term, this is particularly damaging from a destination reputation perspective. When one considers that just a few weeks ago Cape Town was listed the #1 city in the world by the Telegraph Travel Awards, this kind of behaviour does tourism and its ability to contribute to the economy and job creation no favours.”

Additional reporting by AFP