Western Cape schools to remain open amid taxi strike

• Western Cape schools will be open on Monday amid uncertainty about the taxi stayaway.
• A dispute between Santaco and the City of Cape Town led to the withdrawal of taxi services on Thursday and children were among those stranded at the last minute. 
• It is understood talks are underway in the hopes of resolving the situation. 

Government schools in the Western Cape will be open on Monday, the province's education MEC has said. 

"We can assure parents that schools will be open tomorrow as normal, and our contracted learner transport will continue to operate as best possible," said David Maynier.

He asked parents to make alternative transport arrangements where possible and urged schools to report any harassment or intimidation of pupils being transported to school. 

"We will not tolerate anyone preventing our children from accessing their constitutional right to education," Maynier added.

READ | Cape Town taxi stayaway: Golden Arrow gets interim interdict against Santaco

Children were among those stranded on Thursday when the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) withdrew its services before peak hour during a dispute over vehicle impoundments with the City of Cape Town's law enforcement arm. 

This coincided with sporadic arson attacks on other forms of public transport. 

Thousands of pupils travel vast distances to get to school, some as far as from Khayelitsha to Sea Point and back, and public transport plays an important part in facilitating these early morning departures and late afternoon returns.

On Sunday, the Golden Arrow Bus Service obtained an interim interdict from the Western Cape High Court that prevents Santaco or its affiliates from harassing or intimidating it or its customers. 

Santaco agreed to the order.

A bus and taxi were burnt on the N2 near Langa on 3 August 2023 after taxi operators downed tools earlier in the week.

Brenton Geach/Gallo Images

On Friday, when the full impact of the stayaway set in, the Western Cape education department said 287 420 pupils and 9 508 staff members were negatively impacted.

Pupils either could not get to school, or they were kept home for their safety. 

Saturday's #BackOnTrack lessons were also cancelled. 

Meanwhile, commuters are on tenterhooks waiting to hear if there will be any change in the situation between Sunday night and Monday morning's rush hour amid talks about talks. 

It is understood independent schools are making individual calls on whether to open or not.