Taxi associations agree on routes following violence

Tembisa Alexandra Taxi Association (TATA) and Midrand Taxi Association (MIDTA) executive members along with police and Ekurhuleni Metro Police met at the Tembisa South Police Station late last week to iron out issues affecting their business operations, Kempton Express reported.

The successful talks were sealed with the signing of an operational agreement.

According to the agreement, both associations pledge to work together peacefully as both are entitled to operate the same route, as per the legal permission granted through registration with the Department of Transport.

The heavily contested route, which led to the recent taxi war, runs to and from Titeng Taxi Rank in Tembisa to Kayalami via Waterfall Mall Taxi Rank in Midrand.

“Transporting commuters is our bread and butter, therefore we condemn the barbaric acts of greed that resulted in horrible killings of innocent souls. We pledge to abide by the principles contained in this agreement,” chairperson of the SA National Taxi Council (SANTACO) in the Ekurhuleni region, Peter Mashego said.

Immediately after the violent incident, the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and Gauteng Department of Transport facilitated a meeting where it was resolved that the operating conditions of a previous verbal agreement would be reinstated.

This meant that both MIDTA and TATA would immediately revert to operating an equal number of taxis (five each) at the rank and charge the same fare of R15 for the disputed route.

The parties have also agreed to hold monthly meetings which would enable all stakeholders to address all challenges faced by the operators collectively.

– Caxton News Service