APA-Cape Town (South Africa) A violent taxi strike, which had brought the city of Cape Town to its knees, has ended after a week of destruction and deadly clashes which left at least five people dead in its wake, the taxi umbrella body has announced.
The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) said on Thursday that the taxi industry had reached an agreement with government that the next two weeks would be used to work towards the “release of the vehicles that were wrongfully impounded” by the city authorities due to alleged traffic violations.
Since the start of the strike, virtually all public transport had come to a standstill in Cape Town, with public buses which attempted to breach the strike were burnt or shot at by the strikers.
With streets closed off and businesses coming to a halt, the organisers of Women’s Day celebrations in Khayelitsha township did not want to risk lives of the participants as they shifted the function to Pretoria’s Union Buildings this week.
In the announcement, the taxi body said it was saddened and disappointed that it took this long for all parties to find a resolution to the strike.
NM/jn/APA