Department of transport to blame for taxi strike

Following the taxi strike on 17 November where taxi drivers and owners were upset about the fact that the Department of Transport (DOT) is taking their time to issue operating licences to these taxi that will exempt the associations from paying for E-tolls.

Howard Dembovsky from Justice Project South Africa said, “The department is hindering these taxi drivers from applying for operating licences by making the application process a long and tedious one. And although we are against taxis and the way they drive we have to recognise that they transport the masses and they serve as public transport although they are privately owned.”

He added that the operating licence restricts taxis to the area that they applied for. “If a driver applies to use a route between Roodepoort and Randburg that is the only route he can work on, they can’t work from Roodepoort to Pretoria, so in essence this licence is also a good thing.”

Dembovsky explained that the reason why a small number of taxis in Roodepoort and Soweto is affected is because only 20 per cent of taxis have applied for or received their operational licenses. “Most of the taxis on our roads operate without these licences.”

The striking taxi drivers also had an impact on schools and Gauteng Education spokesperson Phumla Sekgonyane said that Grade 12 pupils who were unable to write exams today will be able to write a supplementary exam early next year.

Boskop Primary in Honeydew, who makes use of taxis to transport most of the children to and from school, said that they didn’t have any issues with pupils not arriving at school on 17 November. The school explained that it makes use of taxis paid by the school to transport the pupils to school.

Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar concluded and said, “The strike has moved through to the Department of Transport and motorists will be able to use the M1 highway again this afternoon to drive back to their homes.”