The City Council and taxi associations are heading for a showdown over the MYCiTi buses operating in Walmer Estate and Salt River.
|||Cape Town - The City Council and taxi associations are heading for a showdown over the MYCiTi buses operating in Walmer Estate and Salt River.
The Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) have been given the go-ahead from their lawyers to apply for an interdict to stop the MYCiTi buses from operating on routes which taxis have been servicing.
Taxi bosses say it is difficult for them to compete with the subsidised MYCiTi service and that this is aggravated by the fact that they are not being consulted properly.
Last weekend, the city launched the service in the two areas after a three month delay with the licensing process at the Provincial Regulatory Entity (PRE).
Taxi associations and the Golden Arrow Bus Services (Gabs) lodged objections.
Cata general secretary Nqazeleni Mataytayi said when their concerns were raised during the hearings, they had the impression that the licences would not be granted.
Mayco member for transport, roads and stormwater, Brett Herron said: “We went through a lengthy process and the prescribed process for approvals of the licences. The independent transport tribunal went through all submissions and approved the licenses. If Cata wants to bring an interdict then we will deal with it if and when it comes.”
Herron said he was “disappointed by the strong resistance” to the city’s vision of enhanced public transport for commuters. “We have consulted with stakeholders and we are disappointed that they commit to our transport vision but they are fighting us every step of the way,” Herron added.
Mataytayi said Cata would first lodge an appeal with the independent transport tribunal over the licences.
“We will ask for a re-evaluation of the whole process of granting those licences, we don’t want to skip a step. And if we are not successful with the appeal, then we will go to court,” he said.
Mataytayi said taxi associations were not opposed to MYCiTi, but that they disagreed with how the project was being implemented.
“It seems the government wants to continue implementing these decisions without talking to the people affected by these decisions.
We are not saying no to anything, but all affected parties in the IRT should be consulted,” he said.
Mataytayi said taxi owners were fearful of losing their businesses. “We have no objections to the transport plans, but the taxi industry should be the nucleus of the process, we should be heavily involved and we must benefit from it.
“But the way it is being implemented now is where we will clash. If the government comes to us to say we need to improve transport and they want us to lead it then it will make sense,” Mataytayi said.
zara.nicholson@inl.co.za
Cape Times