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Johnathan Paoli
THE Eastern Cape Transport Department has warned scholar transport operators that the planned shutdown in the province on Thursday, for non-payment of services for the past four months – would not be a protected strike and the strikers will face criminal charges.
Schools in East London have temporarily closed down in anticipation of the strike, with classes expected to resume on Friday.
The spokesperson for the Department Unathi Binqose said on Wednesday that the shutdown would not only disadvantage learners, but also infringe upon others’ right of movement.
“It will also negatively impact scores of taxi operators, the overwhelming majority of whom depend on the taxi rank, have private contracts with parents to ferry learners or have contracts with companies to ferry their workers,” Binqose said.
Binqose refuted claims that there was an unavailability of funds, and blamed the delay in payments on technical challenges that the department was currently facing.
Furthermore, Binqose said part of the delay was due to the boycotting of the signing of contracts by some operators at the beginning of this year, and challenges relating to tax among some operators.
Binqose said the Department’s Deputy Director-General, Lomex Sisilana, had met the taxi bosses on Wednesday to try and resolve the matter, and was working to clear the backlog of unprocessed invoices by May 15.
“To date, a sizable percentage of legitimate invoices have already been settled, while outstanding and legitimate invoices will be paid during the course of the month,” he said.
On Tuesday a group of irate taxi operators protested outside the provincial transport department’s supply chain offices in West Bank, East London, demanding their payments be paid with interest. Afterwards, the group convened at the Cambridge Community Hall where the decision to go on a strike was taken.
However, the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) in the province has distanced itself from the scholar transport operators’ planned shutdown.
SANTACO Chair Bishop Yolelo said while the council remained concerned over the delay in payment, it would continue providing services to commuters with the assistance of law enforcement agencies.
“Whilst we acknowledge the existing challenges surrounding overall government regulation and support of our industry, we believe there should be more cordial avenues, pursued to ensure that harm isn’t caused as concerns are being registered,” Yolelo said.
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