Planned national taxi strike put on hold

A nationwide taxi strike‚ which was expected to go ahead on Wednesday‚ has been put on hold.

This follows a meeting between Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi and the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) which was held on Friday to try to find solutions to the challenges faced by the taxi industry.

Taxi owners and drivers in Gauteng went on a go slow last month to protest against escalating vehicle prices‚ the lack of subsidisation for the industry and the limited-period permits that government grants to taxi operators.

They blockaded major Gauteng highways including the N1‚ N3 and the R21 in a bid to get their message across‚ causing a traffic backlog and resulting in flights from Johannesburg International Airport being delayed.

Addressing a joint media briefing by the department and Santaco in Pretoria on Sunday‚ Maswanganyi said the department and Santaco had agreed that the planned strike be put on hold to allow for further engagement on issues that Santaco had brought to the attention of government.

 The meeting agreed to address issues relating to the taxi subsidies‚ the operating licences and access to finance..

“We are prepared to assist Santaco to resolve these issues‚” Maswanganyi said.