The violent protest action in Cape Town, which has seen key economic sectors and business in the city hugely affected and five people dead, has come to an end with the city agreeing to release taxis that the taxi association said were wrongly impounded.
The SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) released a statement on Thursday night confirming the protest had come to an end. It expressed condolences to all families who lost relatives as a result of the protest.
“It deeply saddens and disappoints us that it took this long for all parties to find a resolution,” Mandla Hermanus, the Western Cape Santaco spokesperson, said in a statement.
At the heart of the week-long protest action, which saw hundreds of thousands unable to get to work, and schools and clinics closed, were the conditions around the impounding of vehicles under the City of Cape Town’s bylaws and national legislation.
Hermanus said part of the concessions agreed on to end the protest action were the release of the impounded vehicles.
“I’m pleased to announce that as part of the resolution is an agreement that the next 14 days will be utilised to work towards the release of vehicles that were wrongly impounded.”
Santaco claimed taxis were impounded for seemingly minor infractions like a broken lights or mirrors, with the taxi industry saying repeat offenders were paying far in excess of the R2,500 impound release fee and storage fees.
City of Cape Town MMC for safety & security JP Smith told Business Day it “impounded vehicles for breaching the National Land Transport Act, where drivers were unable to produce a valid operating licence, or are found to be operating contrary to the conditions of their operating licence”.
However, Santaco claimed that operating conditions attached to a permit were broad and included inconsiderate or reckless driving as breaches.
Santaco had also said the issuing of operating permits by the city were delayed and then taxis were impounded for not having a permit.
On Thursday, minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said cabinet had directed transport minister Sindi Chikunga to ensure that any bylaws that contradict national laws were removed.
She said that Cape Town bylaws introduced in 2022 may contradict what national rules say about impounding vehicles.
“Cabinet was also briefed about the City of Cape Town’s imposing of taxi operating conditions which are at variance with both the National Road Traffic, and the National Land Transport Act.
The city has said it only impounded vehicles lawfully. Many of the reasons for impounding vehicles, such as roadworthiness, are allowed for in national legislation, it said.
“All impoundments are effected in line with applicable legislation. The law applies at all times and officials may not turn a blind eye to important road safety legislation,” mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said.
Alta Swanepol, a lawyer specialising in transport, explained the circumstances in which vehicles can be impounded. The National Road Traffic Act allows for impounding a vehicle that is not roadworthy, which has a “very broad” definition, she said. This can include something as simple as not having a red triangle used as warning if a car is stationary.
Vehicles obstructing traffic, such as a truck that is struck on a highway, can be impounded
The National Land Transport Act allows for the impounding of a vehicle if it does not have the correct operating permits or the number plate is missing. Any vehicle suspected of being stolen or used in a crime can be impounded under the Criminal Procedure Act.
Swanepoel said the problem is often not so much the laws, but the fact that some municipalities enforce them and how they are enforced.
Santaco said vehicles have been impounded for reasons not provided for in the legislation and it specifically blamed Smith.
After busses were burnt in the protest Smith said he would impound 25 vehicles for every bus that was set alight, further angering the taxi association.
Smith told News24 in July 2022 when the bylaws came into effect that it was already impounding 900 to 1,200 taxis a month.
Santaco had said it feared taxis being repossessed by lenders as drivers did not earn them money while the vehicles were locked up.
Many parties have weighed in on the impact of the strike, with DA MP Manny de Freitas saying: “people need to connect the dots — just like clockwork, every year before an election, there is suddenly mass action, protests and actions similar to what we are presently seeing”. With TimesLIVE
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