Despite urgent negotiations since Thursday, there has been no resolution to the ongoing mini-bus taxi strike in the Western Cape.
Premier Alan Winde chaired a special provincial Cabinet meeting on Monday morning to report back on various engagements and interventions since the beginning of the taxi strike.
“The ongoing violence is making it very difficult for negotiations to proceed,” he said.
“A withdrawal of services is an important Constitutional right, but violence, intimidation and destruction of property are not.
“This is non-negotiable. We want to bring all stakeholders back to the negotiations, but this has to be in an environment of calm. We must also not allow this issue to be politicised as this will only further complicate matters.”
Santaco Western Cape said on Sunday night that the stay-away would continue until Wednesday, August 9.
This, after talks at the weekend with the provincial government had not yielded any results.
Winde said he noted and supported the interdict granted by the Western Cape High Court to Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) against Santaco and its affiliates from harassing and threatening its employees and passengers.
“We welcome Santaco’s condemnation of the levels of violence associated with the strike. However, we remain deeply concerned by the violence, loss of life and destruction of property that has been associated with the strike. Santaco’s leadership must ensure that the violence associated with the strike ends immediately.”
Cape Times