Western Cape takes taxi owners to court over 'hijacked' school transport

An illegal blockade by taxi associations meant more than 3,200 children missed school on Friday in Khayelitsha and surrounding areas, says MEC David Maynier.
An illegal blockade by taxi associations meant more than 3,200 children missed school on Friday in Khayelitsha and surrounding areas, says MEC David Maynier.
Image: Siphiwe Sibeko

A gripe over scholar transport contracts has landed Western Cape taxi owners in the high court after they prevented children from attending school this week.

MEC David Maynier announced on Friday that he had hauled the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta) before the high court in Cape Town.  Maynier is seeking an urgent interdict stopping the taxi association from “obstructing, interfering, and stopping the transporting of learners within the Western Cape”.

“I further asked the court to interdict the taxi association and its members from issuing threats to our learner transport scheme drivers, learners and members of the public,” said Maynier.

He said more than 3,200 children missed school on Friday in Khayelitsha and surrounding areas as a “result of the illegal blockade”.

Maynier said the court had recognised the urgency of his application and that Codeta had “backed down and agreed to an interim arrangement whereby they will suspend their illegal blockade of our learner transport scheme operators, until such time as the matter can be heard before the court”.

“This is a binding commitment before the court, and any breach of the agreement would be considered to be in contempt,” he said.

“In addition, I have laid a criminal complaint with the police against the minibus taxi associations currently preventing our children from getting to school.

“I provided a variety of evidence to them, including the statement issued by Codeta which announces the hijacking of our learner transport scheme routes. I also provided the media comments by various taxi association representatives, and photos of children hiding in the footwells of vehicles to escape the notice of criminals and thugs.”

Maynier said police had “committed to stepping up their operations to bring an end to the harassment of our contracted drivers”.

Maynier said his department refused to meet “with any minibus taxi association until they unconditionally end the blockade and stop terrorising our children and our parents”.

“Preventing children from attending school to extract contracts from the state is an infringement of our children’s constitutional right to education, and the taxi associations are acting directly against our learners’ best interests,” said Maynier.

“They would immediately and unconditionally end their blockade if they cared at all about the wellbeing of our children. Clearly, they don’t.”

Codeta is yet to respond. 

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