This comes after Department officials on Wednesday, met with the bus company, the Provincial Taxi Council, the Greater Bloemfontein Taxi Association and the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in an effort to quell the rising tensions between the stakeholders. Disgruntled taxi operators brought the Bloemfontein city centre to a grinding halt this week citing the department’s biased treatment against them as the primary reason.

They alleged that while they were being subjected to frequent roadblocks by traffic officials, this was not happening to Interstate bus operators. They further alleged Interstate’s 100 buses are not subsidised and did not have permits. The bus line is yet to comment on these allegations. The MEC of Police, Roads and Transport, Sam Mashinini, says a report on the investigation will be tabled on Friday, July 26. He says thereafter the stakeholders will look into feasible solutions to the problems identified. In the meantime, the Provincial Taxi Council has promised that everything will be normal from today onwards, bringing an end to the taxi strike.

Mashinini has also apologised to Mangaung Metro residents, many of whom were affected by the strike. He says his heart went out “to the older people and young school children deserted and not knowing how to get home”. OFM News spoke to residents who said they were forced to walk long distances from the city centre just to get close enough to home. One Rockland resident tells OFM News she arrived at home just after 21:00 on Tuesday night, after getting off work in the afternoon due to the strike action.

OFM News