Santaco Criticizes Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis for Villainising Taxi Operators After Recent Remarks

• The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has accused the City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis of portraying them as villains
• This comes after the mayor announced that Santaco accepted the same agreement that has been on the table for over a week
• Some South Africans are backing Santaco, while others are just happy the strike is over

CAPE TOWN - With the week-long taxi stay-away protest finally called off, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has called out Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

Following recent remarks, Western Cape Santaco chairperson Mandla Hermanus accused the mayor of trying to portray taxi operators as villains.

Santaco questions whether negotiations with the City of Cape Town were authentic

Speaking on Newzroom Afrika, Hermanus responded to a question about the City of Cape Town's mayor's remarks that the deal Santaco agreed to was on the table last week Friday.

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Hermanus stated that the statement by Hill-Lewis was disappointing and questioned whether the negotiations between the union and the city were genuine.

"It's also disappointing because then it brings into question whether these negotiations and discussions we're having, how authentic are they if such kinds of statements can be made by the mayor," said Hermanus.

The Santaco chairperson explained that had the proposal been on the table from the beginning, and they wouldn't have needed to embark on a stay away.

City of Cape Town agrees to release impounded taxis

According to IOL, Santaco carried out an eight-day stay away in retaliation for the impoundment of taxis. At least five people were killed after getting caught in the violent protests.

Santaco stated in a press release that part of the agreement between the city and the union was that impounded taxis would be released in the next 14 days.

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The organisation also expressed disappointment that it took so long to reach an agreement. The union said it was pained by the public's suffering in the process.

South Africans react to the City of Cape Town's remarks about Santaco

@Kingsman_110 said:

"It's a cover-up by Western Cape & City not to be seen as failures or taking the blame. They could've handled this better, but they didn't."

@Luvuyoabraham said:

"This is not true. JP Smith was running around threatening to impound 25 Taxis for every bus burnt."

@NaomiTaljaard2 said:

"Santaco wanted to see if CoCT would fold under pressure. The winner is... THE RULE OF LAW."

Cape Town’s deadly taxi strike ends after Santaco, Western Cape govt and Metro come to tenuous agreement

Briefly News previously reported that it is back to business as usual in the City of Cape Town after the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) called off the taxi strike, which thrust the metro into eight days of chaos.

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After lengthy deliberations, the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape government and the taxi council came to a tenuous agreement to suspend the stay away that left tens and thousands of commuters stranded, caused millions in property damage and claimed the lives of five innocent people.

Santaco Western Cape released a statement revealing that part of the resolution included an agreement that taxis that the city would release all wrongfully impounded taxis within the next 14 days.

Source: Briefly News