While some commuters in Gauteng were left stranded and urged to find alternative transportation on Monday, Randfonteiners were not affected by the taxi strike.
According to Metro Police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar, “The strike disrupted the Reya Vaya bus service and routes in Soweto, Auckland Park and the Johannesburg CBD.”
Phillip Taaibosch from the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) said his organisation does not support the action and questioned its legality.
“Santaco doesn’t know anything about this strike. If there were any serious grievances that warranted a strike, we would have informed commuters a long time ago,” he said.
The strike allegedly affected pupils writing exams, but the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) released a statement saying they will be more lenient with the pupils affected by the strike.
One of the tweets read: #taxistrike We r very strict on matric exams. Bt we will be lenient bcos this situation affects our learners @Phumla_Mthala @lesufi @DBE_SA
Local taxi drivers admitted to knowing about the strike but said they decided just to observe for now. They said its many taxi associations standing together as a whole for all the drivers in South Africa. According to them the drivers have many issues that are not being heard by the people at the top and the strike is their call for help.
All taxi’s are expected to be back on route on Tuesday 18 November.
