Pretoria - Taxi operators were expected to bring parts of Pretoria to a standstill on Wednesday morning, driving at speeds of about 20km/h on several major roads on their way to Tshwane House to hand over a memorandum of grievances.
Thousands of taxi operators from Mamelodi, Atteridgeville, Mabopane, Soshanguve, Ga-Rankuwa and the CBD, operating both local and long distance routes, had by Tuesday night confirmed their participation in the protest activity.
They are protesting against the issuing of enforcement tickets, which they allege, block their efforts of renewing professional driving permits and vehicle licences.
The action was scheduled to start at the crack of dawn and proceed until late in the afternoon, according to the organisers.
“We have decide to embark on a go-slow from Mamelodi driving on the road at 20km/h,” organisers told the Pretoria News on Tuesday.
The operators warned commuters to brace themselves for transport chaos and make other plans to get to work. “There will be minimal availability of taxis, and commuters are encouraged to make alternative arrangements,” said Thabo Nkadimeng, a member of the organising team.
The operators said they could not renew their licences and car discs because of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) fines.
The issuing of the enforcement tickets hindered their daily operations and progress in the taxi industry, the operators said.
At times, the operators said they did not even bother to obtain their driving permit because of the enforcement tickets.
They are calling on mayor Solly Msimanga to do away with the law enforcement fines.
“We will take to the roads very early in the morning and drive slowly until we reach the mayor’s office in the CBD.
"No taxi will be operating in the city during that time,” Nkadimeng said.
The strike would be on a larger scale than the previous one in July, he said. “We beg our commuters to bear with us. We understand there are frustrations that passengers are experiencing, but we are trying to have this matter resolved as soon as possible,” he added.
The city's Metro Police and the SAPS said they would oversee the protesters, who they said should disperse by about midday.
Metro Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said the department only received notification of the planned protest earlier yesterday.
“We would like to indicate that there was no application nor approval for this protest, and should it proceed, it will therefore be regarded as an illegal activity,” said Mahamba.
“The notice received suggests that the taxi drivers will gather from 3am (today) at Denneboom Taxi rank in Mamelodi and will proceed in different groups of the motorcade to Tshwane House in the Pretoria CBD at the corner of Madiba and Lilian Ngoyi streets to possibly hand over a memorandum.
“As the department, we do note the rights for people to protest provided that the proper channels to do so have been followed and to respect the rights to safety of others.
"As law enforcement, any unlawful activity will not be tolerated. Those who break the law, will be dealt with accordingly.”
The Metro Police and other law enforcement agencies will deploy members to areas that may be affected for law enforcement.
Members of the public are encouraged to report any illegal activity at: 012 358 7095/6 or 012 358 1906/05.
He said law enforcement would, however, monitor the situation and keep a close watch on affected streets.
These roads included Tsamaya, Stormvoël , Nico Smith, Steve Biko, Flower, Es’kia Mphahlele, Struben, Thabo Sehume, Madiba and Lilian Ngoyi streets, Mahamba said.
Pretoria is no stranger to traffic disruptions and commuter and motorist problems as taxis and trucks have within the past few months caused gridlocks as they went about their protest activities.
Last month, taxis from across the province converged at the Midrand offices of Toyota to protest at the high costs of Quantum vehicles. They caused massive traffic gridlocks as freeways and feeder roads into cities and towns in the province came to a standstill.
They had started their drive to Midrand at the crack of dawn, forcing some commuters to either stay at home, while many motorists spent hours on the roads, unable to move in one direction or the other.
Reports of violence were made as some taxis intimidated and forced those picking people up to stop, while the less popular taxis continued to operate outside and far from where they could be seen.
In fear of intimidation, shops in the inner city, especially those owned and operated by foreigners, closed down, as they had three months earlier when truckers affiliated to the Coal Transportation Forum came to Pretoria.
The trucks, 650 from three provinces, rolled in and drove slowly along the freeways, causing traffic jams along the N1, N4, N12 and R21.
By the time the massive coal tipper trucks converged at an open spot in Marabastad they had caused major traffic delays and left motorists sitting in traffic for hours, leaving law enforcement in a frenzy as they battled to control roads leading into and out of cities and towns.
The truckers then got into cars and went to the Union Buildings, where they delivered a memorandum against the government’s signing of the Independent Power Producer Programme.