Thousands of commuters in Cape Town are being forced to walk to their destinations this morning as the city’s minibus taxis and Metrorail trains have suspended their services.
Beginning on Thursday, 3 August, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) declared that its members would be going on a “Stay Away” strike in response to new by-laws implemented by the City of Cape Town that allow traffic officials to impound vehicles for a variety of new infractions related to their roadworthiness.
Shortly thereafter, the city revealed that negotiations with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) had failed, resulting in the shutdown of its local rail network.
Several large Golden Arrow buses have also been set alight in an attempt to disrupt the city’s remaining public transport services as part of the ongoing protests, resulting in images and videos of thousands of commuters walking along the highway to get home.
Taxi strike
Santaco announced on Sunday night that talks between it and city officials to resolve the ongoing strike were suspended, and that the service shutdown would continue until Wednesday, as was the original plan.
“It is with great disappointment that we must announce that the talks between Government and the Santaco Leadership, that took place in an attempt to resolve the cause for the Taxi Stay Away, was suspended,” it said.
“With this said, we can confirm that the Stay Away will continue until Wednesday, 9 August, as initially announced.”
Within the first week of the new by-laws coming into effect, Cape Town traffic officials impounded 30 private and 306 public transport vehicles, resulting in outrage from numerous taxi operators.
“We are very disappointed with the new bylaws and especially it seems they are targeting the taxi industry. I mean the taxi industry at the moment is taking a lot of strain,” said Santaco provincial chairperson Mandla Hermanus.
The local government responded with: “What many fail to understand, is that the law is simply that – the law, and it applies to all, equally. The criticism that our efforts and energy should be devoted to ‘real criminals’ is all too familiar, and sadly short-sighted.”
The Stay Away has since turned into a full-blow strike and resulted in a number of altercations between taxi owners and law enforcement, with civilians getting caught up in the violence.
Most recently, the police arrested several taxi drivers attempting to blockade the N2 en route to the airport, while a video posted to social media shows a car by Nyanga bridge getting swarmed by protestors.
Cape Town – #TaxiStrike Law Enforcement clearing vehicles and arresting taxi drivers after early morning blockades towards the Airport @capetownint pic.twitter.com/K3sHZ4AN6C
— TrafficSA (@TrafficSA) August 7, 2023
As received- 7/8/23
Nyanga bridge earlier this morning. #TaxiStrike pic.twitter.com/zousMfFpeJ— Ian Cameron (@IanCameron23) August 7, 2023
Train disagreement
Less than a day after the taxi strike began, the city’s mayoral commission revealed that talks between it and Prasa, the national authority which oversees the country’s rail network, had fallen through and that its Metrorail services had been halted as a consequence.
Earlier in the year, Cape Town entered discussions with Prasa and formed a Service Legal Agreement (SLA), which would, among other things, transfer operations of the city’s Metrorail services over to the local government.
The rail organization then declared in late July that it would not sign the SLA, prompting the mayoral committee to open legal proceedings against the entity.
The national government had previously signed a White Paper allowing for the “devolution” of the country’s rail infrastructure, transferring oversight towards local authorities, but this commitment has since been contradicted by various senior political figures, including the current and former Transport Ministers, said Cape Town’s authorities.
The Western Cape’s goal is to take over the province’s train sector, as a feasibility study found that a more efficient passenger rail service could save households R932 million every year and generate R11 billion per annum for its local economy.
It is currently unclear when the city’s train services will resume normal operations.
Keyword: Why you can’t get a train, bus, or taxi in Cape Town right now