- Joburg protest march to strand commuters
- Forum and council disagree over mandates of delegates
The City of Johannesburg was negotiating over its proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) system with "puppets who do not even own taxis", Ralph Jones, the chairman of the United Taxi Association Forum, said yesterday.
The forum's members are scheduled to embark on a one-day strike and a march in the city centre today.
Thousands of commuters in and around Johannesburg who rely on taxis are expected to take to trains and Putco buses, or even stay home, because there might be no taxis to and from the city today.
Jones said the forum brought together more than 21 taxi associations, represented by their chairmen.
He was reacting to claims by Rehana Moosajee, a member of Johannesburg's mayoral committee, who said last week that the city was concerned about media reports detailing the misgivings of "anonymous taxi bosses" about the BRT.
Moosajee had said: "When anonymous 'taxi bosses' prefer to speak on behalf of the taxi industry, we should all be concerned. More so when the legitimate elected representatives of the industry have been working tirelessly to build an understanding and foundation for the industry to negotiate its way into the Rea Vaya BRT system."
She continued: "We want to reiterate our commitment to further strengthen the work we have been doing with the taxi industry through the steering (committee) and the technical working committee."
Jones poured scorn on these claims, saying that the taxi industry, after signing a memorandum of understanding with Johannesburg in December 2007, had realised it could not get answers to its questions about the BRT.
Consequently, it had decided to recall its representatives on these two committees.
"She (Moosajee) is talking to people who are without a mandate," said Jones. "Some of them no longer own taxis and therefore cannot represent us. The government must talk to us directly, at grass roots level.
"Moosajee has even given these people she claims to be talking to office space from where they are operating.
"How can you bite the hand that feeds you?"
He said that the time for negotiations with the government was long gone; now it was time for answers and guarantees.
"How are we going to benefit and are there going to be job losses for our drivers? They say we are not thinking about commuters, but they are taking them away from us," said Jones.
"They want to be referees and players. They made us register our routes, but now they want to take them away from us. We need them to explain to us properly, then we will say yes."
Moosajee said Rea Vaya gave taxi operators opportunities to become bus operators within the BRT, with long-term, guaranteed contracts. They could become BRT shareholders.
"Taxi drivers can become bus drivers," she said. "And there will be job opportunities with greatly improved working conditions for marshals and other employees."
To make way for Rea Vaya, roughly 550 minibus taxis would be scrapped or removed from Johannesburg's roads, Babu Maharaj, a member of the BRT steering committee, said yesterday.
He called on taxi operators to be part of negotiations involving a possible R2.5 billion contract with the city.
Maharaj said the city was thrashing out the contract for taxi operators for the first phase of the BRT system over the next 12 months.