Fikile Mbalula to hold crisis meetings with public transport industry amid taxi chaos
National Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula is scheduling crisis meetings with public transport providers as a taxi war in the Western Cape rages on.
Mbalula and Western Cape authorities have been meeting with warring taxi factions and gave an update on progress on Thursday.
There have been more than 80 taxi-related murders in the Western Cape since the start of this year, almost a third of those have happened this month.
The conflict has led taxi operators to withdraw or curtail services, leading to a crisis for commuters.
Mbalula said taxis were still running at full capacity in non-hotspot areas but those neighbourhoods that were tense were still problematic.
“Where we are faced with this challenge, Golden Arrows through the intervention of the provincial government will have to come in. This afternoon, I have to come in to see how many trains we can increase.”
He said there was still no official agreement with taxi associations in the Western Cape after days of talks over taxi violence.
Transport MEC Daylin Mitchell has briefed the media on Thursday on developments regarding the taxi industry in Cape Town.
On Wednesday, they met again with taxi associations Santaco, CATA and Codeta.
Mitchell said the associations would have another opportunity to continue talks to find a solution.
Mbalula said he supports any decision the province will make.
But he said all parties have agreed to a cease-fire said: “We know that cannot be guaranteed 100%, but we will hold them accountable to their words.”
-EWN
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