The eThekwini Municipality said a fruitful engagement was held with key role-players to discuss the way forward following a protest by taxi operators in the uMhlanga area on Tuesday.
City spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said the Greater North Taxi Association was aggrieved by the actions of the Oceans Mall developers in barricading the area that was being used as a taxi rank.
The developers, along with the eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA), Metro Police, and councillors from the area, were part of the meeting.
Metro Police spokesperson, Colonel Boysie Zungu said: “The Oceans Mall cannot operate without workers. In the same breath, workers cannot come to work without public transportation.”
The taxi association also noted that the previous arrangement did not suit them, as they required additional space for more vehicles.
“They also noted that the building plans did not make provision for a proper taxi ranking area, stating that there are 13 other taxi associations operating in the precinct,” said Sisilana.
The eThekwini Transport Authority is set to meet with developers to find an accommodating solution, the City said.
Chief Operation Officer of Oceans uMhlanga, Brian Mpono told IOL that the responsibility for public transport in uMhlanga lay with the eThekwini Municipality and not the private developers.
“However, in order to have the taxi blockade stopped in the interest of greater uMhlanga businesses, Oceans uMhlanga has provided and negotiated, at its own initiative, a temporary solution which has been accepted by the representatives of the taxi association,” he said.
IOL News