KZN transport dept, eThekwini Taxi Council to meet in bid to end taxi strike

JOHANNESBURG - The KwaZulu-Natal transport department and the eThekwini Taxi Council will meet later on Thursday in an attempt to find solutions to end the current taxi shutdown.

The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) halted operations for two days due to complaints about the impounding of taxis.

Taxi commuters in Durban were forced to find alternative transportation, as the protest began earlier on Thursday.

A lengthy meeting between SANTACO and the eThekwini transport department on Wednesday yielded no results.

Operations in Dubran were halted as the council said it needed the MEC of transport to intervene.

SANTACO Durban West Region chairperson, Mathula Mkhize: "There is an issue with operating licenses, government not being able to assist us to be able to access operating licenses, and then, obviously, based on the rule of law, when a police officer approaches a task, they would call for operating licenses, which we feel it is impractical, as we speak, to access as per our frustrations that were tabled yesterday."

Mkhize added that they were hopeful their issues would be addressed and the strike called off.