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Durban - Motorists in Durban are in for some respite as late night talks between minibus taxi bosses and city officials staved off another day of blockades and protest action.
On Tuesday, irate taxi drivers and owners implemented rolling blockades on the city’s main arterial route, causing major traffic congestion.
Later, hundreds of taxi drivers clashed with Public Order Policing Unit members as they rampaged through the city centre, damaging both private and municipal infrastructure.
South African National Taxi Council provincial spokesperson Yusuf Khaliva said that normality would be restored as they had identified “a way forward”.
“I do not foresee any further protests today [Wednesday] or any traffic disruptions at all on the part of minibus drivers and owners. We are having a meeting with the executive committee of eThekwini and it follows a very successful talk we had last night,” he said.
A way forward
“We tabled a lot of issues regarding the route permit system with the city last night and I feel that we have a way forward now.”
Khaliva said that nearly 100 taxis that were impounded during a recent Metro Police crackdown were going to be released back to the owners.
“They were going to give our taxis back last night but we finished off very late. We expect to get them back today [Wednesday],” he said.
The minibuses were impounded after they were found to be operating either without valid route permits or to have deviated from specified routes.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Tozi Mthethwa could not be reached for comment at the time of publishing.
Police spokesperson Colonel Jay Naicker said no incidents of violence or blockades had been reported on Wednesday morning.
