The Western Cape provincial government is making contingency plans for a planned taxi operators' strike, the province's transport spokesman Solly Malatsi said on Wednesday.
“The announcement is that the strike will start on Monday. We are working on contingency plans,” said Malatsi.
The provincial government was still gathering information on reasons for the strike, but had been told that there were concerns about the roll-out of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and the impounding of taxis.
“We will also be liaising with all the law enforcement agencies in the province,” he said.
The roll-out of Johannesburg's BRT was also marked by taxi strikes and several shooting incidents.
Comment from Western Cape taxi operators was not immediately available.
The Johannesburg operators had complained about poor consultation and threats to their livelihood as taxi and bus services and routes were streamlined.
In that dispute, operators felt they were being robbed of routes that they had developed over decades in response to poor public transport.
Malatsi said the department knew there was a complaint about taxis being impounded, but felt that this formed part of its law enforcement intervention to keep roads safe.
The New Age newspaper reported that operators in the province were not happy with BRT and wanted answers to their concerns. - Sapa