Cape Town - Stun grenades were fired at a group of about 50 frustrated taxi drivers who closed off roads in Cape Town’s CBD on Thursday morning.
The taxi drivers said five of their taxis had been impounded by traffic cops between 5am and 9am for allegedly operating on a proposed MyCiTi Sea Point bus route.
Jonathan Swartz, spokesman for the group of taxi drivers who are part of the Western Cape Taxi Association, said the city was in breach of an agreement that they had made last year.
undefinedHe said: “We have a letter here where the city states that we could operate on these roads until the issue is amicably resolved.”
Swartz said that taxi drivers were excluded in the MyCiTi roll out and that the city was taking food away from their tables.
“Most of us here are bread winners; the taxi business is all that we know.”
As the taxi drivers blocked Strand Street with their minibuses; they were cheered on by commuters who refused to use the MyCiTi bus service.
Just before noon police arrived, and gave the group of taxi drivers a deadline to disperse by 12.20pm.
Police used stun grenades to disperse the protesting drivers, and made a number of arrests.
It is uncertain exactly how many protesters have been arrested.
Cape Argus
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