Strike one for rule of law in the Cape

The Santaco (the South African National Taxi Council) seven-day stayaway in the Western Cape last week following the City of Cape Town’s allegedly unfair impounding of its taxis, created a transportation nightmare for commuters.

Unfortunately, protests often involve violence, and this strike by South Africa’s largest taxi union was no exception. More than 180 criminal incidents directly linked to the taxi strike were reported across the province. Communities in areas like Khayelitsha, Nyanga, and Langa couldn’t use alternative means of transportation and faced threats or assault if they attempted to try commute to work, as some individuals aimed to bring the city to a standstill.

Roads were blocked off by protesters, private vehicles were stoned, and four Golden Arrow Buses destroyed. Once again, the violence was linked to reducing the number of buses on the road.

The City of Cape Town took a firm stand against the violence and deployed thousands of security personnel to stabilise the situation, but the most important message conveyed during the strike was that it wouldn’t negotiate with criminals or tolerate ongoing violence.

National Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga suggested that the City of Cape Town should return the impounded vehicles, indicating a lack of understanding of her role and responsibilities in enforcing the National Land Transport Act (NTA). Embarrassingly, Cabinet had to intervene and provide her with clear instructions on enforcing the law.

Minister Chikunga and Police Minister Bheki Cele would probably have accepted any terms requested by Santaco, even if it meant ignoring the rules and laws set out in the NTA. If such ministers took the same stance that the city did on most matters, we wouldn’t be sitting with the lawless country that we unfortunately have.

The strike had a significant economic impact on the Western Cape, costing millions, and tragically, lives were lost, for which there’s no price. Supplies were disrupted, resulting in most supermarkets not being able to restock their shelves with essentials, and of course, this was made worse by consumers, who went into panic purchase mode.

Once again, the city, through smart policing, began escorting key deliveries such as bread, milk, and such suppliers to ensure that they could deliver daily essentials to distributors safely.

Such a stance was necessary to enforce the rules of the country, something which South Africans tend to ignore, exacerbated by the fact that we have a national government which daily demonstrates that it accepts crime and the breaking of laws, especially considering the number of its politicians do so.

This said, the issue of impoundments will raise its head again, and as I write this, Santaco has expressed its dissatisfaction as more vehicles were impounded over the weekend. It intends to seek a court interdict against the City of Cape Town.

This is the view of someone who has been in politics and has private transport, but the views of those who depend on public transport to earn an income will be different, rightfully so.

For many, it’s about being able to survive and earn an income in a challenging country with high unemployment rates.

Over the past 30 years, the African National Congress-led national government has neglected the train infrastructure, which was once the most important transportation system. This has allowed the minibus taxi industry, a private sector, to gain considerable power as the primary mode of transport for millions of South Africans.

• Jacques Weber was a councillor for the City of Cape Town for three years. He’s also the founder of JWI.News, a Cape Town news and alert platform. Weber has an extensive background in the safety and security sector.