She said the city could not apply and implement something that was not in the act and hence the department was forced to talk about the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA) and the National Land Transport Act (NLTA).
She added that she was flying back on to Cape Town on Tuesday afternoon and would remain in the city until a solution was found “but this matter is in the hands of the city now”.
She said if the city continued to be arrogant there would be a problem. She said if they were to agree, the city should release the impounded cars “on the basis of the wrong legislation and the strike will be called off”.
“They say they are not bargaining; they are not going to speak to [Santanco] — they call them thugs. They say they are not going to talk to thugs. I don’t see the taxi industry as thugs.
“They might have their own issues, but I see them as people in business who are transporting our people. Where there is lawlessness, I believe that the law must take its course. There are fathers, brothers and sisters and I don’t think any mayor has a right to call them thugs,” she said.
The department's director-general, James Mlawu, said the question was whether the department was saying the city cannot make bylaws.
“I think the minister is saying the city can but in this particular instance, our sense is that the city has gone beyond what the national legislation allows them to do,” he said.
The City of Cape Town said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that the minister conveyed misinformation in a press conference. It confirmed that all taxi impoundments in the metro were for offences under the NLTA and not a single taxi was impounded under the city’s bylaws.
“The city will uphold the rule of law at all times without fear or favour. It will always act in the interests of commuter safety, including impounding public vehicles for offences under the NLTA.
“Rather than ‘defining itself outside national laws’ as claimed by the Minister, Cape Town will continue to stand out as an example of a city implementing the national laws of the land. We will never compromise commuter safety by turning a blind eye to offences on our roads,” it said.
It added that the city’s traffic bylaws were recently amended to extend impoundments to private vehicles for a range of serious offences.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said that in Cape Town violence would “never be tolerated” as a negotiating tactic.
“We reiterate our call on Santaco to return peacefully to the negotiation table,” said Hill-Lewis.
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Chikunga says City of Cape Town is key to ending violent taxi strike
The City of Cape Town is the key to the negotiations that will see an end to the violent taxi strike in the Western Cape.
Minister of transport Sindisiwe Chikunga said people who were supposed to carry out the negotiations, however, had decided not to get involved. She briefed the media on Tuesday in Midrand calling for the immediate release of impounded minibus taxis.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) continued with its strike on Monday after talks initiated to resolve the impasse collapsed at the weekend.
Chaos ensued in Cape Town last week when Santaco abruptly halted all minibus taxi operations in the Western Cape after an impasse with city authorities.
Chikunga said they sit in the negotiation and agree on certain aspects and the MEC of Mobility in the province, Ricardo Mackenzie, will have to call someone who is not present at the meeting.
“When we met with them yesterday [Monday] we requested that they give decisive and authoritative power to whoever is their chief negotiator, but they have not done so,” she said.
“Somebody must call somebody and that somebody must call somebody and then if they all agree they still have to call their God, who is JP Smith [MMC for safety and security] who then decides to rubbish everything and therefore we are back to square one.
“Because nobody tells JP Smith in Cape Town ... He is the God there. They all pray to him,” she said.
Chikunga said the taxi strike emanated from the impounding of 6,000 minibus taxis.
She said the industry couldn’t operate and the impoundment was because the city was implementing “wrong legislation, which is why we are forced to talk about these two legislations which gives power to all of us even at the national level,” she said.
She said the city could not apply and implement something that was not in the act and hence the department was forced to talk about the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA) and the National Land Transport Act (NLTA).
She added that she was flying back on to Cape Town on Tuesday afternoon and would remain in the city until a solution was found “but this matter is in the hands of the city now”.
She said if the city continued to be arrogant there would be a problem. She said if they were to agree, the city should release the impounded cars “on the basis of the wrong legislation and the strike will be called off”.
“They say they are not bargaining; they are not going to speak to [Santanco] — they call them thugs. They say they are not going to talk to thugs. I don’t see the taxi industry as thugs.
“They might have their own issues, but I see them as people in business who are transporting our people. Where there is lawlessness, I believe that the law must take its course. There are fathers, brothers and sisters and I don’t think any mayor has a right to call them thugs,” she said.
The department's director-general, James Mlawu, said the question was whether the department was saying the city cannot make bylaws.
“I think the minister is saying the city can but in this particular instance, our sense is that the city has gone beyond what the national legislation allows them to do,” he said.
The City of Cape Town said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon that the minister conveyed misinformation in a press conference. It confirmed that all taxi impoundments in the metro were for offences under the NLTA and not a single taxi was impounded under the city’s bylaws.
“The city will uphold the rule of law at all times without fear or favour. It will always act in the interests of commuter safety, including impounding public vehicles for offences under the NLTA.
“Rather than ‘defining itself outside national laws’ as claimed by the Minister, Cape Town will continue to stand out as an example of a city implementing the national laws of the land. We will never compromise commuter safety by turning a blind eye to offences on our roads,” it said.
It added that the city’s traffic bylaws were recently amended to extend impoundments to private vehicles for a range of serious offences.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said that in Cape Town violence would “never be tolerated” as a negotiating tactic.
“We reiterate our call on Santaco to return peacefully to the negotiation table,” said Hill-Lewis.
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