Cause of taxi strike revealed

A taxi strike in Diepsloot left commuters stranded and was also the cause of violence between taxi drivers and taxi owners.

While many have felt the impact of the strike, the root cause has not been clear – until now, that is.

According to Alfred Mashishi, public relations officer of the Randburg United Local and Long Distance Taxi Association, the strike was the result of taxi drivers wanting to be “promoted”.

Mashisi explained that a promotion meant taxi drivers would become full members of the association, as well as the owners of the vehicles that they drive.

He added, “Unfortunately, you don’t wake up tomorrow and suddenly get promoted. There are strict criteria that we follow.”

According to Mashishi, the criteria for receiving a promotion is that the driver needed to have been registered with the association for a minimum of 10 years, at which point a promotion could be applied for.

He said, “The association was formed in 2003 and the drivers that signed with the organisation at that point were coming up on their 10-year mark, but were impatient (and wanted) to be granted promotion immediately.”

Mashishi assured Diepsloot residents that the strike had now been resolved.

He said, “We have met with the South African National Taxi Council in Diepsloot and we have also held our own annual general meeting. It was decided that the taxi drivers who had been driving for 10 years would be granted promotion. As far as we know the taxi strike in Diepsloot is over.”