Cape Town - In just two days of the six-day planned provincial taxi strike by the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco), e-hailing services have pledged to join in the “stayaway”, while 287 420 pupils and 9 508 teachers have been affected, and elective surgeries, government services, water and electricity, as well as the Netball World Cup have been disrupted.
The Western Cape E-hailing Association (WCEA) confirmed they were joining the strike action and called on drivers to park their vehicles and not engage in business but to refrain from violence.
The association called on the City to withdraw regulatory provisions that force them to have taxi meters installed.
By late yesterday afternoon, Santaco remained mum on the latest violence erupting around the city.
Santaco provincial chairperson Mandla Hermanus said 488 operators had their vehicles repossessed in the last 12 months due to impoundments.
Earlier this week, law enforcement and taxi drivers clashed on the Cape Town Station deck while an operation was taking place.
An urgent meeting was called by Santaco, who announced on Thursday its planned strike between August 3 and August 9.
Hermanus lashed out at Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith, stating he was consumed with his own sense of power and privilege.
Calls were made for Minister of Police Bheki Cele to respond to the violence.
Cele, however, said he had no hand in promoting the actions of the taxi industry and that they were working towards resolving the violence.
Yesterday, a bus driver was shot in the leg and two buses set alight in Khayelitsha. Tyres were burnt in Atlantis, Bloekombos, Witsand and Borcherds Quarry and incidents of stone throwing took place near Dunoon.
Videos went viral of commuters walking along the N2 in a bid to reach their homes.
MEC for Education David Maynier said 287 420 pupils and 9 508 teachers could not attend school due to the protest action.
He said their #BackOnTrack school programme, which serviced 14 000 children on Saturdays, would be cancelled and several children were left stranded at their schools.
In Mowbray, residents rallied to assist 11 pupils of Thandokhulu High School who were left stranded and provided food and sleeping material, while four pupils at Silverlea Primary School and Garlandale High School, who live in Khayelitsha, had to stay over in a guest house and teachers arranged meals and toiletries.
“We want to make it clear that if we see any acts of intimidation of learners travelling to school, or of our contracted Learner Transport Scheme buses, we will not hesitate to approach the court for another interdict against the minibus taxi associations,” said Maynier.
In addition, the City said the Recreation and Parks Department made a decision to close all community public viewing areas (PVAs) for the Netball World Cup until further notice.
Smith responded by calling on witnesses to report those behind the violence.
“The City calls on anyone with information about the instigators behind these attacks and disruptions, to please report it to the City’s toll-free tip-off line, so that they can be prosecuted,” he said.
Dr Saadiq Kariem, chief of operations for the Western Cape Department of Health, said emergency services staff were facing attacks and assaults, and that a doctor had also become a victim, while many workers were affected by the strike.
He said elective surgeries at Tygerberg, Groote Schuur and Red Cross Children’s Hospital had to be postponed and Vanguard Community Health Centre was closed following violence by protesters.
Bronwen Dyke-Beyer, public relations manager for Golden Arrow Bus Services, said they would continue to operate their services but could not confirm if and when schedules would run normally.
The Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa) said their staff had also been affected and in some instances rooms at hotels have been made available at a low rate to accommodate workers.