Taxi Strike

Years of tension between the City of Cape Town and the taxi industry came to a head this week as wanton violence spilled onto the city’s highways and streets, unwitting commuters and other civilians caught in the middle. On Thursday last week, taxi bosses unexpectedly suspended their services to embark on a week-long stay-away that left thousands of desperate commuters stranded. Many of them, including school children, attempted the long treacherous journeys home on foot. Violence soon followed as buses and other vehicles were burnt and stoned, and troublemakers sowed chaos on commuter transport routes by intimidating workers trying to get to and from work. At the centre of the stand-off was a demand that impounded taxis be released, something the City’s authorities refused to consider. By Thursday evening, and after several rounds of tense negotiations, the taxi industry finally gave in.