Legal seal placed on Cape Town taxi agreement
The City of Cape Town and the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) have for now smoked a peace pipe to stop any further taxi-strike related violence, reports GroundUp.
The order, taken by consent and granted by Wesern Cape High Court Judge Derek Wille on Friday afternoon, placed legal certainty on an agreement signed earlier this month.
The ruling also puts paid to Santaco’s application for an interdict to stop the impoundment of minibus taxis, which is what led to the violent strike.
The agreement states that it will only subsist for as long as there is no further taxi-related violence.
The order notes that the agreement was reached between the city, the Western Cape province and Santaco on 10 August to ‘ensure the immediate return of minibus services’ and the process to resolve the remaining grievances raised by taxi operators which gave rise to the strike.
It states that from 11 to 25 August, officials will exercise discretion granted to them under the legislation so that only the offences of operating without a licence, without a professional driving permit or driver’s licence, or driving an unroadworthy vehicle would result in impoundment.
During this 14-day period, the Minibus Taxi Task Team will begin to review the balance of the standard operating licence conditions applicable to minibus taxis in order to reach agreement on the offences that remain in contention.
Within those 14 days, the city will provide a list setting out the proposed differentiations between so called serious and minor offences contained in the National Land Transport Act and the National Transport Act for the purposes of creating a protocol guide for traffic officers when exercising discretion on impoundments.
GroundUp notes the city also agreed to make representations to the NPA, which may be necessary to ensure the release of any impounded minibus taxis.
It also provides for a process of quick escalation should the team be faced with challenges and that Santaco will give at least 36 hours notice of any intended strike.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
