Santaco recalls all taxis in response to vehicle impoundment stand-off with City of Cape Town

The SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) resolved to halt all taxi operations in the Western Cape with immediate effect on Thursday in response to its stand-off with the City of Cape Town. 

Taxi operators staged a blockade on Tuesday in response to the impoundment of about 15 vehicles. The situation escalated into clashes with police and metro police who used stun grenades to disperse the crowd and smashed the window of a taxi to extract protesters.

Traffic officers shot a suspect in the leg on Wednesday after allegedly being attacked by a taxi driver and passenger when they were pulled over for a traffic violation. 

Santaco posted news of the immediate shut down on social media platform X.

Santaco provincial chair Mandla Hermanus said at a meeting of taxi operators on Thursday that traffic officers were impounding taxis “even in the case of the offence being committed by a driver. For instance, vehicles get impounded if a driver or commuter is found not wearing a safety belt.”

Meanwhile, provincial mobility minister Ricardo Mackenzie will hold a joint briefing with police oversight and community MEC Reagen Allen, city officials and police management on their response to the impasse.

“As a precautionary measure, MyCiTi commuters and those relying on the minibus-taxi industry for commuting are advised to anticipate delays in coming days, and to plan accordingly,” the city told commuters.

This is a developing story. 

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