Durban - All the minibus taxis impounded by the eThekwini Municipality recently have been released to their owners and there will be no charges in this regard until the permit problems have been sorted out.
Taxi drivers and operators went on strike on September 22 after their vehicles were impounded, causing disruptions to transport in the city that saw many workers unable to get to work on time or at all.
KwaZulu-Natal Transport Alliance chairman Henry Mbatha said they were now operational and had a written agreement with the city and the provincial Transport Department that their taxis would not be impounded until “they have fixed their faulty system”.
Mbatha said the taxis were released upon the payment of a R1 500 fine a vehicle.
The initial requirement was that taxi owners without permits would have to pay R3 000 and not have their taxis back on the road.
However, that changed after negotiations between the municipality, the Transport Department and the taxi operators late last week.
Mbatha said that agreements reached a few years ago had not been adhered to.
“We were again promised that no minibus taxis would be impounded until we had all been issued with permits. This time around we made MEC Willies Mchunu sign the agreement.”
He said they had been called to a meeting at the Umbumbulu Stadium on October 2 – also involving the city and the Transport Department – to discuss their permits, but had no faith that that would solve the problems.
“What will work is the department calling people region by region so they can have a direct interaction with officials. A stadium setting will not work,” he said.
Neither the municipality nor transport spokesman Kwanele Ncalane responded to questions about the agreement.
The Mercury