Taxi body denies responsibility as strike becomes violent

Apart from traffic disruptions, there were several cases of intimidation and attacks on passing motorists reported earlier on Wednesday, Pretoria Rekord reports.

NTA spokesperson Theo Malele said the organisation had taken note of reported incidents of violence on social media platforms and urged the law enforcement departments to deal with those engaged in violent activities.

‘“We heard there have been outbreak of violence which we strongly abhor and we call on law enforcement agencies to step in a cause that is not what we had agreed on.”

Earlier on Wednesday morning, a Tshwane bus was reported to have been hijacked with commuters forcefully removed, in The Orchards, north of Pretoria, by a group of people who were allegedly part of the protest.

The metro has since confirmed the bus has been released by the protesters.

#TaxiStrike Two taxis got into accident on Francis Baard street in Pretoria. This happened as NTA leading a taxi march to Union Buildings today. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/GPxiM9TqV4

— Sipho Stuurman (@Sipho_Stuurman) November 18, 2020

Malele condemned the incident and once again called for law enforcement to step in.

Malele said the strike was prompted by their demand to have Covid-19 taxi relief funds released.

‘“We will walk to the office of transport minister Fikile Mbalula where we will deliver a memorandum with the list of our demands at around 11:00 and thereafter march to the Union Buildings where we intend to deliver a memorandum of our demands to the office of the presidency.”

He said should government fail to meet their demands, the association would approach the courts.

“If our matter fails at the high court we are more than willing to approach the constitutional court.”

The strike was expected to take place up until 15:00.

Police spokesperson Colonel Brenda Muridili said the police received reports of intimidation from motorists.

“We can only report on the number of violent cases later today, once all people affected have officially reported the cases. We urge people who say they were violated to report this.”

During an attack on an innocent road user, a motorist was captured on the video being attacked by a man who was apparently part of the taxi protest. The woman motorist’s car windscreen was smashed with a truncheon during the attack.

Although Petrie Vogel sustained minor injuries, she said she was left traumatised by the attack that happened while driving in Waterkloof Ridge when protesters blocked Eridanus Road near the intersection of Rigel Avenue.

In Hercules, a pastor and his wife were also allegedly attacked by taxi drivers this morning. The pastor was taken to hospital and was due to open a case at the police later.

Pretoria CBD is a no go area#TaxiMarch #TaxiStrike pic.twitter.com/kJsQv3r4R8

— Mr Lehari Sir (@DicksonLehari) November 18, 2020

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