Taxi blockade in Jo’burg CBD over routes ends

A blockade in Johannesburg’s city centre over taxi routes ended after an agreement was reached at about 2pm on Friday.

The protest came after the Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport‚ Ismail Vadi‚ last week issued an ultimatum in a notice of intent to close taxi ranks and suspend routes of two rival taxi associations‚ the Nancefield-Dube West Taxi Association (Nanduwe) and the Witwatersrand African Taxi Association (Wata)‚ according to a report by the engineering and mining news outlet‚ Creamer Media.

Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Wayne Minnaar told TimesLIVE that the drivers caused traffic jams in the city.

“They [Nanduwe] blocked the roads with their vehicles and came out of them‚ which caused a lot of destruction. It started just after midday‚ which affected the lunch traffic flow‚” he said

According to Minnaar‚ the negotiations were held on the streets of Johannesburg at the corner of Pritchard and Simmonds after almost two hours of the protest.

Police were deployed to curb the chaos.

Creamer Media reported that: “Nanduwe taxi operators have been accusing Wata of defying a court judgement ordering them to withdraw their taxis from the Dube route and also prohibiting them from picking up passengers in the area. They have also been fighting over early morning pick-up points in Mofolo‚ Orlando West‚ and Central Western Jabavu.

“Members of Nanduwe took to the streets and closed all intersections around the Office of the Premier and the MEC’s office‚ saying they have been prevented from operating on their routes by unknown security guards.”