Santaco's Western Cape taxi strike disrupts service delivery in Knysna, affecting the province's entire taxi industry. Photographer: Armand Hough / African News Agency (ANA)
The ongoing taxi strike, which started on Thursday, continues to impact essential services, including water and sanitation, roads, electrical services and refuse collection units in Knysna.
This comes after last week's announcement by Santaco to recall all taxis from operating in all its regions in the Western Cape.
The decision was taken during the Santaco national leadership and the Western Cape province leadership meeting, supported by civil society, in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, on Thursday.
Now the strike has affected the transportation and availability of our workforce, particularly those responsible for maintaining water and sanitation systems, road repairs, electrical services, and refuse collection.
Despite these challenges, Knysna Municipality has assured its residents that its teams are working tirelessly to address all issues promptly.
"We deeply regret the disruption caused by the strike and understand the inconvenience it may cause the community," Knysna Executive Mayor, Aubrey Tsengwa said.
Tsengwa said that they are currently engaging with local taxi associations to ensure that the strike does not hinder service delivery and affect the most vulnerable people.
He also said that delivering essential services is one of the top priorities, and they are committed to ensuring the well-being and comfort of residents. However, due to the unforeseen nature of the taxi strike, the ability to provide seamless services has been compromised.
"Our teams are coordinating their efforts to resolve the problems as soon as they can. We are actively monitoring the situation and implementing contingency plans to minimise the impact on our community.
"Our law enforcement and traffic officials are providing support to the national security cluster in executing the functionality of the police.
"During this period, we kindly request your understanding and cooperation. We are doing everything possible to ensure that services are restored to normalcy at the earliest opportunity," Tsengwa said.
IOL