Commuters scrambled to find alternative transport as a taxi strike got under way in Cape Town on Thursday, two buses were set alight and a minibus go-slow caused traffic snarl-ups on freeways exiting the CBD.

“Traffic officers are attending to incidents of public violence on the city's freeways and major routes,” said traffic spokesperson Kevin Jacobs.

Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) confirmed two of its buses were set alight at Nyanga.

Taxi associations resolved at a mass meeting earlier on Thursday to withdraw their vehicles from service in protest at law enforcement operations which have seen up to 1,000 taxis impounded a month for various transgressions.

The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) said it was resolved at the meeting:

• There will be a provincial taxi stayaway with immediate effect until August 9.
• During this time, there will be no marches or any form of protest. “All operations will stop and we have urged our operators to refrain from acts of violence and threatening behaviour”.
• Normal taxi operations will resume on August 10 and an announcement will be made on the way forward.

GABS said in an afternoon alert to commuters at 3.30pm: “There are serious incidents of violence and vandalism taking place across Cape Town. We are doing our best to maintain operations but the situation is volatile.

“Traffic is also backed up on major routes. As a result we cannot provide exact information regarding our services, but we are trying our best to get everyone home. Affected services include:

• Mfuleni is inaccessible and we can only operate from the outskirts.
• We are trying to operate Nyanga services from Borcherds Quarry but the N2 is blocked on both sides.
• Langa is inaccessible.
• All Epping services will be severely delayed.
• Khayelitsha is inaccessible and we are only able to operate from the outskirts.”

The city denied accusations it was unfairly targeting taxi operators.

‘It is regretful that Santaco has resolved to pull their vehicles from minibus taxi ranks from this afternoon [Thursday],” said urban mobility MMC Rob Quintas.

“We are aware of violent protests near the Khayelitsha taxi rank, a bus has been set alight in Nyanga, MyCiTi bus passengers are being forced off buses, two law enforcement vehicles have been stoned in Khayelitsha and the N2 outbound is blocked by slow moving minibus taxis.

“This is no longer a peaceful protest and we condemn these actions. There is no need to endanger human lives nor for interference with other vehicles on the road.”

Education MEC David Maynier said: “We are deeply concerned about the affect the strike will have on schools, especially given the sudden announcement which may leave teachers and learners in the lurch this afternoon [Thursday].”

Afternoon road closures flagged by the city due to incidents of public violence included:

• Jakes Gerwel Drive closed at Bluegum in a northerly direction;
• the N2 outbound closed at the M5; and
• the N2 incoming closed at Jakes Gerwel Drive.

Traffic services said in an update the N2 inbound and outbound was closed at Jakes Gerwel Drive. The N2 outbound was closed at the M5. Motorists travelling on the N2 were being diverted onto the M5 southbound.

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