Cape Town - The Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) and Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) have finally signed an agreement to share the contentious minibus-taxi route from Mbekweni, in Paarl, to Bellville.
The B97 minibus-taxi route has been closed for more than a year because of violence between the two associations.
The current closure period comes to an end on September 25, 2022.
Provincial Transport and Public Works MEC Daylin Mitchell said that in July 2021, a decision was taken to close the route following several incidents of violent conflict and the loss of lives.
“This decision was taken in consultation with the affected municipalities, the South African Police Services (SAPS), and regulatory stakeholders given the fact that the safety of passengers had degenerated to an unacceptable level. In consultation with the affected municipalities, we invested a considerable amount of time, funding, and resources into mediation efforts prior to closing the route.
“Taxi operations on the B97 route were also the subject of an arbitration process. The arbitration award was released in November 2021 and we made a concerted effort to give effect to the arbitration outcome. The arbitrator ruled that both Cata Boland Taxi Association and the Paarl Alliance Taxi Association (affiliated to the Codeta region) have legal rights to trade on route B97,” said Mitchell.
Mitchell said since the award had been issued, discussions had taken place with the provincial executive committee of the Western Cape Branch of the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), the Cata and Codeta regional taxi councils, and the two affected primary taxi associations.
This is a developing story
Cape Times