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The City of Cape Town and the Western Cape government have offered what they consider to be a reasonable proposal to end the taxi strike.
This announcement came after the city, province and South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) were locked in a closed meeting that lasted for about two hours on Thursday afternoon.
The taxi strike has caused havoc for commuters and seen vehicles being stoned and burned.
On Thursday, there was also a food shortage, with fresh bread difficult to find.
There was confusion before the meeting, where it seemed as if Santaco had initially declined an invitation to meet, but ultimately several of its leaders attended.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, who addressed the media after the meeting, said they had put a very reasonable offer on the table. “We are giving it to them, and they are going back to their office and will look at it with their team. We can’t really say too much more right now.”
Read/listen: Calm descends on Cape Town taxi strike
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis had previously promised to head back to the negotiating table if there was a sustained period of peace. “We would have hoped to have a final agreement, but we don’t have that yet. We’ve made what we think is a very considerate proposal. It is now up to them. Hopefully, with any luck, we will have an agreement soon.”
He said that the first consideration in making the proposals is and will always be the safety of commuters in the city and province.
“With our minds on how we can keep commuters and people who use taxis safe and other road users safe, we really sincerely hope that Santaco will be mature, accept our reasonable proposal, and end this strike with the interest in getting back to some normalcy in the city.”
Read:
British national among victims of deadly Cape Town taxi strike
Minibus taxi drivers cause mayhem in Cape Town
Initially, Santaco declined the invitation to return to the negotiating table. A statement by the organisation said that it was seeking an immediate solution to its vehicles being impounded. The organisation plans to go to court against the city on this matter.
In a statement issued late on Thursday, it said: “It is with profound relief that we announce the immediate cessation of the stay away. This comes after painstaking deliberations and immense pressure on all parties involved.”
It further says that there is an agreement between the taxi association and government that the “next 14 days will be utilised to work towards the release of the vehicles that were wrongly impounded”.
No further details have been provided.
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© 2023 GroundUp. This article was first published here.
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