Ekurhuleni taxi strike over, back to normal on Friday, says Santaco

Taxi operations in Ekurhuleni will resume on Friday, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) said on Thursday evening. 

The taxi industry in the municipality went on strike on Wednesday in protest over a contract awarded to a private bus company to transport local communities. Taxi operators took to the streets of, among others, Thembisa, Germiston and Vosloorus, and stopped residents from boarding, leaving many schoolchildren and commuters stranded.    

Gauteng roads and transport MEC Kedibone Diale and Ekurhuleni transport MMC Andile Mngwevu convened a meeting with the taxi operators on Thursday morning in an effort to address the matter, but the talks collapsed. 

However, Santaco national spokesperson Rebecca Phala said on Thursday night that after engagements that it had, all taxi operations will resume normally from Friday morning. 

“We want to reiterate our apologies,  we are sorry that commuters are always at the receiving end of some of these disagreements that we have in our daily operations. We are always committed to your safe commuting,” Phala said. 

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