Mamabolo announces the reopening of Soweto taxi routes
"We are putting an end to this suffering, we are putting an end to these killings," says Alpheus Mlalazi
On Tuesday, June 11; the Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Department, Jacob Mamabolo announced the reopening of taxi ranks and routes that were closed due to taxi violence that flared up in Soweto earlier this year.
The MEC has been in talks with Nancefield Dube West Taxi Association (NANDUWE) and Witwatersrand Taxi Association (WATA) and has charted a way forward for the operation of the taxi ranks and routes, which saw the signing of a framework agreement between the MEC and the two associations at Hector Pieterson Memorial in Orlando West.
The department suspended operations on the affected routes from March 15 until this coming Saturday, June 15. Taxis are set to commence operating on these routes as from Tuesday, June 18.
On behalf of WATA, Chairperson Amon Majozi remarked that “Today we have reached an agreement with NANDUWE that we are going to work 50/50 on transporting passengers, we also apologize to passengers for all that has happened.
We promise that none of this will ever happen again.” Majozi added that the damage has been done enough and urges all taxi drivers to stop the killings.
MEC Jacob Mamabolo readout the agreement before the official signing. He stated that “Today we are here to present an agreement that says because the period of the closure of taxi ranks ends on the 15th of June, one option was to extend the closure of the taxi ranks, the other option was to facilitate an agreement between the parties to allow the taxis to operate.
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So I am very much pleased that the discussions and negotiations have finally brought us to this point where now we can go back to the residents of Soweto on the affected areas and ask them that we have put together an agreement, we have signed it, we want your concurrence and agreement that we can operate the taxi ranks and routes and allow that taxis to operate.”
Gauteng National Taxi Alliance (GNTA), Secretary Alpheus Mlalazi condemned the long-standing taxi violence saying it has brought beyond bearable impacts to the secondary parties such that wives and children of the deceased taxi drivers are left with horrendous grief.
He said “We are putting an end to this suffering, we are putting an end to these killings. We are now entering a new dawn.” Mlalazi also stated that the signing of the agreement between the two associations does not necessarily ensure that all has been resolved, however they will continue negotiating between these associations to ensure there is no repeat of what has happened.
“We call upon the government, law enforcement and judiciary to ensure that this agreement as it gets signed today, no one is going to violate it. Anybody who violates this agreement must face wroth of the law.” Agreeing with Malaza, MEC Mamabolo affirmed that if any of these two associations violate the agreement, they will be opened a case of contempt against and that any taxi driver who stirs up violence will be sent to jail.
Mamabolo has scheduled a meeting with residents of Orlando for tomorrow at 16:00 in Uncle Tom’s Community Centre.
He will be meeting with the community leaders first and afterwards he will engage with the community members.
This meeting seeks to explain the issues of law enforcement and how commuters safety will be ensured during the first few weeks of route operations.
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