Klerksdorp Record, Klerksdorp - A city wide taxi shutdown on Monday March 17 brought Klerksdorp and surrounding towns and townships to a standstill.
This shutdown called for by Santaco started at 05:00 and lasted until about 17:00. Taxi operators blocked all routes entering Klerksdorp, including the N12 which is one of the busiest national roads in the province. Orkney was completely cut off from the outside world for most of the day with all entrances and exits to the town blocked.
While motorists were stranded, Santaco declared that their issues could only be resolved if the Premier and MEC for Transport and Public Safety come to them. Which they did, arriving in full force with local mayors included in the entourage. In the meeting held at Stilfontein, operators explained their frustration with the issuing of operating permits, a main grievance from the taxi associations. In the end, it all came down to the taxi operators misunderstanding government’s instructions. “This was just a misinterpretation of messages because we do renew issued permits and only stopped new applications. We will continue engaging operators and expedite issues they raised,” said MEC Wessels Morweng.
In a statement by mayor Fikile Mahlophe’s office, he confirmed that issues raised by the taxi industry regarding the condition of local roads will be addressed. He thanked the premier and other role players for the cordial manner in which they engaged in talks to reach an agreement. The shutdown was a major disruption to normal city life as taxis and scholar transport were not operating and as such many workers and pupils could not go to work or school because the roads were inaccessible for many motorists. While all the roads were not blocked in the early morning, that afternoon was a different story with learners being stranded after school and people having to walk kilometres and kilometres to get home with no transport available.
Milly Mokhethi, a caregiver working in Glen Eden, Flamwood walked home to Jouberton, a journey that took her almost four hours as she was walking with another elderly lady. “I was so tired, my feet were painful and my body ached. It was unfair to us what the taxis did but I do understand their frustration. I am not angry,’’ she said.
Quite early in the day, the protest headed for disaster with some criminal elements taking advantage, burning tyres and robbing pedestrians. Things escalated quickly in Alabama where a protest against the municipality was underway. Alabama residents complained about the housing status of Alabama, how they are treated by council officials and that they received unfair treatment when it comes to the allocation of houses. The police used rubber bullets to clear the road with some residents of Alabama getting caught in the cross-fire. This set the table for a standoff between police and residents at the intersection near Tower Mall leaving other crime hot spots unattended.
When the taxi shutdown was called off later that afternoon, the chairperson of Santaco in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda Region, Shakes Mayekani apologised about the inconvenience. He was however glad that their grudges with the government could be resolved.
