Cata, Codeta want B97 route opened

Taxi associations Cata and Codeta have urged the Western Cape Department of Transport to reopen the contested B97 taxi route.

B97 is closed as lawmakers remain divided on how and when exactly the once lucrative route should reopen.

It’s almost a year since the two taxi associations were barred from accessing the major route that stretches between Mbekweni in Paarl and Bellville after violence claimed more than 100 lives.

Both associations have legitimate, legal claims to the route, according to an arbitrator ruling that’s being kept under wraps.

“The closure remains because both the department and associations had asked for clarity on certain points,” head of the Transport Department in the Western Cape Jandré Bakker told Weekend Argus.

Codeta spokesperson Andile Kanyi said they are awaiting the outcome.

“I’m surprised when they said both Cata and Codeta do have the necessary operating rights to operate in the same area.

“Where do they see Cata and Codeta working in the same location? That is the problem and they know that we will not work together,” he said, adding that the department was “creating a problem.

“It’s the black people that are dying like flies, that’s why they don’t care.”

Cata’s Mandla Hermanus agreed.

He said nearly 40 vehicles operate on the route and each driver had been making at least between R1 000 to R1 400 a day before the closure.

“Every day we can’t operate, it’s a huge loss for the industry,” he said.

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