By OBAKENG MAJE
18 March 2025- The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) in North West said they are happy after reaching a lasting solution with the North West Provincial Government (NWPG). This comes after SANTACO representatives had a consultative meeting with the North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi and North West Community Safety and Transport Management, Wessels Morweng, regarding issuance of permits.
On Monday, various roads in Klerksdorp were closed down with burning tyres and debris as taxi operators embarked on strike. They demanded that, Permit Board issue the approved permits to them.
SANTACO provincial chairperson, Ebusang Tladi said the taxi industry has come a long way since the very first taxi was introduced more than half a century ago. Tladi said they had a fruitful consultative engagement with all stakeholders including the North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi and North West MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management, Wessels Morweng.
“As SANTACO, we raised an array of issues regarding the alleged circular handed out by Morweng that all permits that were approved by the Permit Board should be held. It was alleged that taxi owners must come and pay for them. So, this was the root of the problem.
However, in the meeting, Morweng denied ever sending out that kind of circular. He said he told the Permit Board not accept new applications anymore because the taxi industry is saturated as per our agreement. This will affect the business and I can say without any fear of contradiction that we are happy with our resolution,” he said.
Tladi further said they agreed to cease their protest and all roads are now trafficable. He added that they normally do not want to embark on a protest strike as this affects the livelihoods of their commuters.
Morweng said: “We had a consultative engagement with the taxi industry in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda region and listened to their grievances as they made it clear that they will only listen to the government, if the North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi and I, are here.
“Indeed, Mokgosi set everything aside and prioritise them as they are priority. We have engaged with them and agreed to expedite most of their issues raised. Other issues are operational and there has been a miscommunication between ourselves and them.”
Morweng said that is something they are going to strengthen because there was a message that says the Permit Board was instructed to stop the issuance of permits, which was an agreement between government and SANTACO. He said the reason for this was, the industry is now bloated.
“Now, officials misinterpreted that communication to say we are halting the whole service altogether, which is something that cannot happen. Service is required on a daily basis. We are dealing with old permit applications, and we are not issuing any new permits thus far.
“This was an agreement that we have reached with them as per their memorandum that they have long submitted to us. Generally, there was an agreement and we will be able to move forward and improve on other things that they also raised,” said Morweng.
He said they are looking forward to improving the industry as the taxi operators are rendering service on the government’s behalf. Morweng said they must ensure that the environment and industry is conducive at all times so that taxi operators can thrive as they ferry commuters from one place to another.
The Guardian 