The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has made an about turn and now agreed to meet with City of Cape Town officials to discuss issues around the impounding of its vehicles, the organisation confirmed on Thursday.
Earlier, Santaco declined a meeting request by Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Western Cape Premier Alan Winde to discuss the ongoing violent taxi protest.
However, Santaco general secretary Ryno Saaiers confirmed that he would join a delegation to attend a sit-down meeting with City of Cape Town officials at 1 pm on Thursday.
In a short statement, Saaiers said that the meeting would go ahead, “confirming the Santaco commitment to resolve the issues around our vehicles being impounded and ending of the stay away.”
Earlier, Mayor Hill-Lewis sent out a request to meet, saying they hoped to meet for a constructive engagement that would bring an end to the strike.
“Following 48 hours without incident in Cape Town and a peaceful morning traffic peak today, Premier Winde and I have invited Santaco for a discussion at 12 pm.
“We hope they will engage constructively to end the strike,” Hill-Lewis said.
Despite the mayor saying 48 hours had passed without an incident, motorists were urged to proceed with caution when travelling in Dunoon and Langa, IOL reported on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday night, Santaco announced that it had applied for an urgent interdict against the impounding of taxis, and to prevent the City of Cape Town from impounding any further vehicles, extending the strike by at least 48 hours.
IOL