Pretoria - The National Taxi Alliance (NTA) has distanced itself from the purported national shutdown planned for Friday.
The NTA says while it supports the core principles of the alleged shutdown, they will not be taking part in the strike action, as they are not even aware who it is sanctioned by.
“We don’t know the people organising the shutdown, we don’t even know what their programme entails, for us it’s a normal day tomorrow,” said NTA spokesperson Theo Malele.
Malele said they were in talks with government to find feasible solutions which can curb the increase in price of fuel.
He spoke of the negative effect these increases have on their already tight margins and the ability to sustain their families.
“It has further squeezed our already squeezed margins to an extent that we are no longer able to afford our own livelihoods.
“Remember we have families and as Africans we have extended families and those people are affected as well, so it’s a terrible state of affairs,” he said.
Taxi operators are no longer able to absorb the costs that are induced by the increases and he indicated that they may now have to adjust their tariffs if they are to remain profitable.
Malele said if government did not intervene, the effects on taxi operators would be disastrous and could possibly drive many out of business.
The South African National Taxi Council has also distanced itself from the purported shutdown.
Meanwhile, police are on high alert after threats of a national shutdown were amplified on social media.
The SAPS’s National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints) said it was aware of the unverified messages circulating on social media and warned people against sharing them.
Natjoints said it had met on Wednesday to discuss the validity of the protest and would monitor the situation.
“With this said, law enforcement officers have been deployed and are on high alert to prevent and combat any forms of criminality,” it said.
IOL