Government is deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict involving the minibus-taxi industry and the City of Cape Town, which has escalated into a strike as a result of impounding of taxi vehicles by the City of Cape Town.
We castigate the violence that has characterised this strike in the strongest possible terms. Those who perpetuate criminality must face the full might of the law. Government will not tolerate lawlessness, irrespective of who the perpetrator is. Our democracy is founded human rights and the exercise of those rights requires that we respect the rights of others. It can never be acceptable for those who are aggrieved by the actions of the City to blockade roads and undermine the rights of ordinary citizens to travel or access schools, places of work and economic activity. It is equally not acceptable for officers of the law to conduct themselves in a manner the violates the law and the rights of citizens including the taxi industry. We will therefore act decisively, working closely with law enforcement agencies and authorities to uproot this criminality.
We call on the taxi industry to blame any form of violence or intimidation by its members.
I acquire personally intervened in efforts to find a lasting solution to the impasse through profuse engagements with the taxi industry under the leadership of SANTACO. I maintain also met with the Premier of the Western Cape, the MEC and the City led by the Mayor and the MMC. We believe made strides in addressing the root cause of the current tensions, and we are bold that we will find each other in the process.
The City of Cape Town has introduced conditions of operating licences, which by-laws the taxi industry has expressed reservations on. The Task Team that was established to address the concerns has not made headway, resulting in the City implementing the impounding of vehicles based on these conditions.
It is an integral portion of our legal scheme that administrative decisions must be based on the principle of legality. We believe national laws in area that govern the infringements and penalties dealt with in the contested conditions of operating licences. The national laws are in spot to ensure that unbiased rules are applicable to all citizens irrespective of the City or Province they reside in. This is a constitutional mandate to ensure order and effectiveness of the rule of law. It can never be that a City will define itself outside the parameters of national laws and implement penalties that are out of sync with these laws. We therefore call on the City of Cape Town to respect and uphold national laws as they currently stand.
To this conclude, we call on the City to return to the negotiating table to address the areas of disagreement and demonstrate a absolute effort to find a lasting resolution to the current challenges.
On the basis of these considerations, we therefore call on the City to immediately release without any conditions, all vehicles impounded based on operating licence and leave those impounded in terms of the National Land Transport Act of 2009.
We remain committed to moving with speed in finding an amicable solution that must enable the taxi industry to resume operation and call off the strike. Such an outcome is in the interest of the country and the industry.
Our efforts to regulate the taxi industry must be underpinned by joint respect of the law and a absolute effort to uplift this industry and ensure that it assumes its spot in the broader public transport industry, characterised by respect for the law and the rights of others.
Violence and lawlessness believe no area in our society and government will not hesitate to unleash the full might of the law against those who believe they can perpetuate such conduct with impunity.
alberta
There was a German, an Italian and Van der Merwe on death row.The warden gave them a choice of three ways to die:
1. to be shot
2. to be hung
Rosie Bird
An retired elderly couple visit London..
They get picked up from the airport in a london black cab and head off into the city for some adventure.
The cab driver say \”where you from guvnor?
Husband. \”we\’re from South Africa\”..
The wife is a little hard of hearing asks her husband.
\”What did he say?\”
The husband turns to his wife and says louder \”the cab driver asked us where we were from, I told him South Africa!\”
The cabbie continues \”I was in the merchant navy years back… I got to drop anchor down your way, a few times in Johannesburg\”
The husband replies \”oh wow that\’s where we\’re from originally, now we\’re in Cape Town.\”
The wife asks the husband again \”what did he say?\”.
The husband again relays the unheard conversation \”the cab driver says he spent some time in the navy and went down to joberg\”.
The wife smiles and nods.