Santaco meets Minister over permits, subsidisies
The national taxi strike that had been planned for next week remains suspended - pending a meeting between the Minister of Transport and the South African National Taxi Council this afternoon.
Santaco spokesperson, Thabisho Molelekwa says two issues need resolving - the reinstatement of the taxi industry's indefinite permits and the subsidising of the industry by government.
He says the current subsidy regime only caters for buses and trains.
Molelekwa says they have been talking with government for well over 15 years about these issues.
"The current form of permits that government gives out has a limited duration which makes the taxi business a risking business in terms of financing. This constrains the operator when he/she applies for financing from the bank. We are saying that kind of predicament needs to be reviewed," he said.
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Molelekwa says depending on what they agree on with the minister today, the strike could be called off altogether.
"We are not going in there and expecting an overnight change in terms of the issues that we are going to discuss. We expect the minister to commit to [addressing] our demands and the process that will unfold," he said.