Makoma Makhurupetje, the MEC for Transport and Community Safety has condemned the use of violence as a means to solve disputes in the taxi industry.
This comes after a Queue marshal affiliated to United Zebediela Taxi Association (UZETA) died this morning at Moletlane in Zebediela, after he was ran over by a taxi driver belonging to Lebowakgomo Taxi Owners Association (LTO). This led to a retaliation by a rival group which resulted in at least one mini-bus taxi set on fire. As a department, we want to convey our deepest condolences to the family and relatives of the deceased following this unfortunate incident”, said MEC Makhurupetje.
“The kind of violence that happened this morning is not warranted at all, more especially after we have just emerged from the provincial taxi imbizo where majority of associations committed themselves to peaceful means of resolving disputes. As government, we want nothing but peace and stability in the industry and no amount of violence will help anyone to resolve challenges” said MEC Makoma Makhurupetje.
“In the wake of this violence, I have since instructed the departmental Provincial Taxi Conflict Resolution Task Team to convene an urgent meeting with the two associations to establish the causes of this incident and to further provide solutions, so that normality can be restored in the area to ensure safety of the commuters.” commented the MEC.
Enquiries: Matome Moremi-Taueatsoala Contact: 082 708 6334/063 980 6340. Facebook: Limpopo Department of Transport. Twitter: @TransportLimCom Website: www.ldot.gov.za