The Western Cape Education Department and the police have come up with a plan of action against the minibus taxi blockade that is prevented pupils from going to school.
The blockade by Cata and Codeta has stopped more than 5 000 learners from attending class in Khayelitsha over the past two weeks, Education MEC David Maynier said.
He said contracted scholar transport drivers and parents were being threatened amid false claims by taxi associations that they were promised contracts by his department, without following tender processes.
“Minibus taxi association members have been threatening and harassing our contracted drivers to prevent them from transporting learners,” Maynier said. “This is an attempt to muscle in on transport contracts and to extort money from the Western Cape Education Department.
“The minibus taxi mafia has now escalated their action, by threatening to ‘offload’ learners from any transport not operated by the associations, including the cars of parents doing everything they can to get their children to school safely.”
He added: “Our schools are also scrambling to make sure that learners do not fall too far behind, and we thank them for their efforts to develop work packs.”
The MEC said he had productive meetings with provincial SAPS leadership, and between them have agreed to a plan of action that includes SAPS operations to end “the criminality of the taxi operators”.
“We are in the process of finalising an affidavit in order to lay a criminal complaint against the taxi associations with the SAPS, and are exploring the possibility of an urgent interdict to terminate the blockade,” said Maynier.
Codeta’s Nceba Enge previously insisted it wanted a meeting with the WCED before the scholar transports operate again.
“Last March we met the department and told them we want to be responsible for transporting children because we didn’t want buses from outside our townships doing what we are capable of doing,” Enge said.
But, Maynier replied: “We will not meet with any minibus taxi association until they end the blockade and stop terrorising our children and our parents.”