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On Wednesday, thousands of taxi operators affiliated with the alliance marched in Pretoria to voice their grievances.
Taxi drivers blocked roads in Marabastad on November 18, 2020 as part of a massive lockdown in Gauteng. The taxi industry wants the government to speed up the payment of more than 1 billion rand in relief funds announced by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula. Image: Xanderleigh Dookey / EWN
JOHANNESBURG – The National Taxi Alliance (NTA) said it would not recognize any of the resolutions made in the recent taxi lekgotla.
On Wednesday, thousands of taxi operators affiliated with the alliance marched in Pretoria to voice their grievances.
They want the government to release the more than 1 billion rand promised earlier this year when the sector suffered losses due to the shutdown.
The government has 14 days to respond to demands from taxi operators that COVID-19 relief funds be released.
The NTA claims that Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula forced them to join the South African National Taxi Council, which would also be responsible for distributing the money.
NTA Secretary General Alpheus Mlalazi read his memo in front of the Union buildings.
“The NTA made it very clear to the minister that in terms of the Constitution of our country, that freedom of association is guaranteed and is an inviolable democratic right and, therefore, the NTA, as an independent body, has the right to exist in a Independent”.
The alliance said its members were severely affected when they were not allowed to load taxis to full capacity during the blockade and long-distance taxis suffered the hardest hit.
Representatives of the NTA from the Free State, Northwest, Western Cape and Limpopo who joined the demonstrations called on the Mbalula office to compensate the interprovincial taxi operators for the losses suffered during levels 5 and 4 of the blockade.
The association threatened to paralyze the country if there is no response to their demands.
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