'It's fake news' — Santaco shuts down rumours of another taxi strike

The SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) has “categorically” denied rumours of another taxi strike, saying it is “fake news”.

This comes after messages and posts circulated on social media hinting at another strike, after more taxis were impounded in Cape Town at the weekend. 

“As Santaco, we want to categorically state there is no strike planned by the industry. What is being circulated is fake news,” said the taxi council.

The council said it would file another court application to stop the City of Cape Town from impounding taxis.

“We have an urgent meeting as Santaco leadership, Just pray the way forward will be different. We are going to submit a court order against the city and the MEC, but we will also decide what is the way forward,” Santaco's Ivan Waldeck said at a media briefing. 

Western Cape education MEC David Maynier appealed to parents to send their children back to school now the strike is over.

“We stood firm during the Santaco minibus taxi strike and refused to close all schools in the Western Cape. We did so not only to ensure schools focused on teaching and learning, but also to provide places of safety and supply meals to hungry children,” said Maynier.

He said the strike wiped out a week of teaching and learning with 852,000 pupils and 17,700 staff members absent at the peak, with schools in poor communities the hardest hit. 

“We know this has been a challenging time, but now the taxi strike has been called off, we must get our children back to school, and so we appeal to parents, please work with us and ensure your children go back to school.

“We cannot afford to lose one more day of teaching and learning at our schools in the Western Cape.”