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Cape Town has been paralysed for several days by a taxi strike. Though it started as a normal one, the strike soon took a violent turn with three deaths reported. Services of mini buses were severely affected, which is the common mode of transport for city dwellers
Cape Town has been paralysed for several days by a taxi strike. Though it started as a normal one, the strike soon took a violent turn with three deaths reported. Services of mini buses were severely affected, which is the common mode of transport for city dwellers.
The violent strike erupted when the Cape Town Municipal Authorities implemented a new regulation that gave the Cape Town municipality the power to seize vehicles for offences such as driving without a licence, failing to display number plates, and overloading. The situation escalated after 15 minibuses were seized by the municipal authorities. According to the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) over 6,000 vehicles had been seized since the start of the year. The Council said that it had no other option than to call a strike.
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Because of the strike, thousands of commuters were stranded after work stoppage by minibuses, which are the main means of transport for millions of working-class South Africans. Soon after the strike, it turned violent. On the road to the airport, one person was shot and three others injured after throwing stones at a motorist. The authorities then said that another body, that of a 28-year-old man who had died from several gunshot wounds in an attack presumed to be linked to taxi strike, had been found nearby. A few days ago, a policeman was shot dead while on patrol some twenty kilometres from Cape Town, which some reports indicate happened as a part of the taxi strike.
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The British Embassy in South Africa posted a travel advisory telling their citizens to postpone their journeys to and from the airport until the route has been cleared. In the meantime, South African Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille told a news agency that she was discussing the taxi strike with the Premier of Cape Town Province in light of the note sent by the British authorities to find a rapid solution.
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Numerous buses and municipal vehicles have been set on fire, private vehicles have been the target of stone-throwing and gunfire. Hospitals and clinics have had to close or reduce their capacity because of the chaos. Shops were looted, according to the police, who announced the arrest of five suspected looters. Following the failure of weekend negotiations with Santaco, it is still not clear when the strike would be resolved and normalcy would return.
