By Everson Luhanga
- Taxi council tells Gauteng that only Ekurhuleni was hit by a strike over vehicles being taken.
- Leaders in urgent talks with the government to fix the transport crisis in east Johannesburg.
Taxi bosses have told Gauteng people there will be no big strike after Wednesday’s transport mess in Ekurhuleni.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) moved quickly to calm fears that taxis would stop working across the whole province.
Ekurhuleni commuters were left stranded when taxis stopped running without warning to protest against their vehicles being taken away.
Santaco Gauteng said on Thursday: “We wish to make it clear that there will be no province-wide protest or suspension of services in Gauteng tomorrow. People across the province can continue to use normal taxi services.”
The council said Ekurhuleni commuters were badly hit but leaders are working on fixing the problem.
Provincial and national transport officials are in talks to end the fight.
“We are talking with both the Gauteng provincial government and the National Transport Ministry to make sure these problems are fixed quickly,” Santaco said.
Earlier, reports of a complete provincial shutdown had caused panic.
The City of Ekurhuleni made things worse by stopping its Harambee bus service from 2pm until further notice.
Santaco apologised for the problems and promised to keep talking rather than making the protest bigger. They will announce an update on Ekurhuleni taxis once talks are finished.
People outside Ekurhuleni can expect normal taxi services, while those in east Johannesburg are still stuck without public transport.
Pictured above: The taxi strike.
Image source: Supplied
