Livelihoods at risk as Cape Town minibus taxi strike continues

As the minibus taxi strike in Cape Town continues, concerns have been raised about the survival of small businesses in the city. 

The suspension of taxi operations started last Thursday and was set to end on Wednesday. However, deadlock in talks between the City of Cape Town and South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) resulted in the strike continuing on Thursday.

DA MP Jan de Villiers raised concerns over the impasse having a negative affect on small businesses and believes intervention from national government is needed. 

“The livelihood of thousands of business owners and employees are at risk as the taxi strike continues. These are the individuals who stimulate the economy and put food on our tables. Yet they are robbed of the opportunity to function, leading to devastating production losses, delays and closures,” De Villiers said. 

“We call upon [small business] minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams to publicly condemn the violence and assure immediate assistance to the affected businesses.” 

A popular chisanyama and club in Khayelitsha, Rands, announced on Thursday it is temporarily closing amid the strike.

The management said it was difficult to operate while it continued.

“We find ourselves in the position of having to temporarily suspend our operations from August 10 due to [the] ongoing strike. This decision has been made after careful consideration of all stakeholders involved: our dedicated staff, valued customers and suppliers,” it said.

On Wednesday, Western Cape Santaco general secretary Ryno Saaiers said the suspension of operations, which thousands of commuters in the city depend on, would continue pending legal action against the municipality.

“Santaco has engaged the services of lawyers to apply for an urgent interdict via courts for the release of all vehicles impounded and to interdict the City of Cape Town and the department of mobility from impounding more vehicles until all matters are resolved.

“The application will be lodged within 48 hours and we will not operate until these processes are completed.”

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