Taxis have blocked several roads in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, leaving motorists and commuters stranded.
Image: Accidents.co.za
The N3 and N2 roads are at a standstill in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal as the long-distance taxi strike continues.
This strike began on Friday, November 30. But why are these taxi drivers striking?
Well, this protest action has to do with Operation Shanela.
Shanela, which mreans to sweep in IsiZulu, is the province's no-nonsense provincial traffic police unit.
On Friday, taxi operators told their drivers to put down in their keys in protest of provincial Transport MEC Siboniso Duma's unwillingness to cease Operation Shanela services.
The taxi ewners asked that Duma release all 81 seized taxis under the operation, which the MEC also refused to do.
Durban Long Distance Taxi Association spokesperson Bhekisisa Nzuza told Daily News that the Department of Transport allegedly assured taxi operators that permits were ready for collection, but, according to taxi owners, there were none.
These permits or licenses allow a person to utilise a taxi for road-based public transportation services.
Nzuza claimed that the MEC was lying to the public about the availability of permits, claiming that in their previous meeting, which resulted in the strike's suspension, Duma had committed to considering their demands of suspending Shanela and releasing the impounded taxis while resolving the permit issue, but has since backtracked on that commitment.
"There will be no taxis. We want the MEC to suspend Shanela and release our taxis. We stopped our protest last time because he committed himself, but now that he reneged from that commitment, we have gone to the strike," Nzuza told Daily News.
The KZN Department of Transport spokesperson NdabeZinhle Sibiya told the SABC that they are doing their work with urgency.
"According to our records, which are audited by the auditor-general of SA, we can indicate to the people of KZN that there are permits that have not collected, which is why in October, we issued the gazette, requesting taxi operators to come and fetch those permits," Sibiya said.
He added that there are about 5,000 permits that have not been collected.
Duma has plans to meet with taxi industry leaders to resolve the issues they have put forward.
IOL