South Africa’s National Taxi Council in the Western Cape says it supports the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) who are planning a national shutdown on Monday, March 20, but will not be participating.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in the Western Cape has said it supports the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) who are planning a national shutdown on Monday, March 20, but will not participate.
The EFF said it called for the shutdown to protest the many problems the country is facing, such as reducing electricity loads and unemployment. They also want President Cyril Ramaphosa to step down.
Santaco has not been approached by the EFF about the planned shutdown “and, as such, Santaco Western Cape will not participate in the shutdown”, the provincial spokesperson, Mandla Hermanus, announced on Wednesday.
He said a number of associations had been approached by the EFF and it was “up to the association to decide whether to participate or not”.
Santaco itself threatened to stay on February 22, citing, among other complaints, the “unfair detention of minibus taxis for minor traffic violations by drivers” and the moratorium lifted on the operating licenses of metered taxis, allowing the distribution of new licenses for taxi services online.
But the protest was canceled after a successful meeting with the Western Cape department for mobility.
Meanwhile, the South African Land Party in the Western Cape is calling for people to take part in a “national day of action”.
“The Land Party calls on landers, fighters, taxi associations, black and colored communities, gang leaders, workers, poor people, background dwellers, landless people, civil organizations, churches and progressive forces to unite against the DA. [Democratic Alliance] racism in the Western Cape,” he said in a statement.
The party criticized the DA-led City of Cape Town court application for an injunction against the EFF’s planned strike, saying the DA “has used this tactic in the Western Cape in collaboration with the Cape high court to deny poor people the right to protest”.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said on Tuesday the city’s court application was “against attempts to disrupt or engage in looting, vandalism and disruption as part of the EFF’s ‘national shutdown’ protests”.
“Everyone has the right to protest democratically in South Africa, but it is undemocratic and illegal to threaten public life, and to keep businesses closed or face dire consequences,” Hill-Lewis said.