Image: EUGENE COETZEE
There will be no taxi strike on Thursday as talks are expected to continue this week.
Drivers, taxi owners and the Eastern Cape Transport Tertiary Co-operative (ECTTC) will meet before the weekend to try to find an amicable solution to the non-payment of Covid-19 relief funding.
Commuters were left stranded, shops closed, children sent home from creches and municipal services limited during a taxi strike that started on May 25.
Drivers blocked roads and several buses were set alight at the Algoa Bus Company depot in Motherwell.
The bus company had earlier suspended all services pending an end to the strike.
Taxi operators had demanded to know exactly where their UIF Covid-19 TERS money was — and had not been satisfied with the answers given.
The payment disputes are between drivers and taxi owners linked to the Uncedo Service Taxi Association and the Port Elizabeth and District Taxi Association.
It was then agreed that an audit of all payments be carried out, bringing the strike to a temporary halt on May 28.
Drivers gathered at the Dan Qeqe Stadium in Zwide on Wednesday and it was decided to suspend Thursday’s strike.
Eastern Cape Transport Tertiary Co-operative chief executive Nokuthula Mbebe said: “At the meeting, we will try to find an amicable solution to solve the problems of the drivers.
“This meeting needs to sit within two days.”
Shortly after the strike was called off, the department of employment and labour carried out a check on payments to taxi drivers in the city.
The department’s acting spokesperson, Musa Zondi, said a meeting had taken place with the drivers, various taxi associations and the Eastern Cape’s SA National Taxi Council, as well as the department of transport.
The meeting was chaired by Bay mayor Nqaba Bhanga.
Zondi said that at the meeting the drivers had supplied copies of their IDs to check their UIF statuses.
“The fund confirmed that about 5,963 copies were received and 5,757 claims were paid to the tune of R25m.
“Some IDs from individual taxi drivers were tested against the Covid-19 TERS online system during the meeting, and it was clear that some claims had not been made because they could not be found in the system.”
Zondi said a team of auditing firms had been appointed to follow all payments since the start of the Covid-19 relief funding.
“Where fraud is suspected, payments are immediately blocked and an initial investigation is carried out by the risk and fraud prevention unit of the UIF.
“In cases where fraud is confirmed, the case is referred to law enforcement agencies for further investigation and possible prosecution.”
Six drivers were arrested in connection with the wanton destruction during the protest and were released on bail on June 4.
Zoyisile Bodo, 37, Ndzuzo Dzebedzebe, 25, Vuyani Gqabi, 53, Ayanda Woza, 30, Siphiwo Luthuli, 26, and Amkelekile Xabengana, 22, face charges in the Motherwell Magistrate’s Court.
They were arrested on May 25 and charged with damaging infrastructure.
The drivers were each granted R500 bail and prohibited from taking part in any protest.
They are due back in court on July 16.
HeraldLIVE