BREAKING: #TaxiStrike called off‚ says Department of Transport

The Department of Transport has confirmed that the #TaxiStrike has been called off following an agreement between the South African National Taxi Association (Santaco) and SA Taxi Finance Holdings on Thursday.

Spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi said they had reached an agreement in Midrand on Thursday afternoon.

"Santaco will brief its members on the agreement today [Thursday] and we welcome the development‚" Mnisi said.

Mnisi said the department condemned the violent way in which the drivers had blocked the roads earlier.

“They were supposed to protest peacefully but they did otherwise. However‚ we welcome the positive outcome that came out of all this chaos‚” he said

Anger and frustration boiled over as commuters were caught up in a massive taxi strike that brought parts of Johannesburg - the economic hub of the country - to a halt on Thursday.

Taxi drivers blocked key transport routes‚ causing widespread disruption across the city.

Large parts of the city and major transport routes were affected‚ including the N1 highway at the Allandale off-ramp in Midrand‚ the N12 and Soshanguve Highway.

The strike had interrupted emergency health services‚ schools‚ airport services‚ traffic and many other economic activities in the city.

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