Potholes, unfinished taxi rank bring Vereeniging to a standstill

Taxi drivers block entrances into the Vereeniging using their vehicles. Picture: @ratone_tsiepe Twitter

Taxi drivers block entrances into the Vereeniging using their vehicles. Picture: @ratone_tsiepe Twitter

Published Mar 20, 2019

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Johannesburg - Many entrance and exit roads into and out of the Vereeniging CBD were blocked on Wednesday morning as taxi drivers took to the streets, blocking them with their vehicles, burning tyres and rocks.

Allegations are that potholes and delays into the upgrade of a taxi rank which was supposed to have been completed in October 2018 triggered the protest.

It's believed that the protest started as early as 4am.

All Vereeniging's entrances and exits have been blocked off, not just the taxi rank.

— Jaques (@jaqvil) March 20, 2019

Constable Thembeka Koago of the Sedibeng police said they were aware of the protest and had deployed officers to monitor the situation.

The taxis in the Vaal, Vereeniging are protesting the unfinished taxi rank which was started 3-4 years ago. Also the potholes and bad roads in most of the region has seen most taxis and car owners losing money changing tires and all. @GautengProvince @GPDID pic.twitter.com/Yll4jTQ8Cs

— Kgosietona Ratone (@ratone_tsiepe) March 20, 2019

He  urged commuters to return home saying taxi drivers barricaded roads with rocks and burning tyres.

“The strike is affecting the whole of Sedibeng district and the R59 road,” Koago said

Vaal Chief Traffic Officer Thapelo Mollo said several entrances into Vereeniging were blocked. He said their officials were also monitoring the situation and redirecting the motorists to use alternative routes.

The Star reached out to South African National Taxi Council (Santaco)'s  Ralph Jones for a comment. However, he said he also heard about the strike on the news and did not know anything about it and would check.

The strike is about the never ending construction of a taxi rank in Vereeniging, remember we touched on the issue at some point, the chickens have come home to roost.

— Maria Zakharova (@Ma_LoJ)