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Angry commuters confront mayor in violence-hit Mamelodi

Pretoria - Mamelodi commuters angrily confronted Tshwane Mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa when he visited a bus depot on Friday after shots were earlier fired at a bus.

The community accused the government of being reactive rather than proactive as a standoff between taxi operators and Autopax dragged on for a third day.

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A group of residents surrounded Ramokgopa to voice their dissatisfaction.

"Why did you wait for bloodshed before intervening? Why was this not resolved sooner? You are reactive instead of being proactive," shouted one commuter.

They also accused police of failing to keep them safe. As Ramokgopa was entering the depot, buses being escorted by police were going on their different routes. The move angered the commuters.

"Why are they only moving at 10:00? They are just putting on a show for the dignitaries to seem as though they are doing something. No buses were moving from 05:00. We could not get to work but now they are moving," said another commuter.

Govt 'handled matter poorly’

Ramokgopa admitted that government had handled the matter poorly and said a concrete solution had to be found to return stability to the area. He said they were committed to ensuring services return to normal.

"It's a valid point they are making. This action should have been instituted much earlier. We met with taxis industry and thought we had reached an agreement. We did not expect this. We need to intensify our actions and ensure that they are taken to work because the possibility of them being retrenched is high," said Ramokgopa.

A high level delegation meeting involving Ramokgopa, MEC Ismail Vadi, Gauteng Premier David Makhura and the taxi industry was under way. The meeting hopes to come up with a solution for the situation to return to normal.

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