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Cape Town MMC for Safety and Security, JP Smith on Cape Town violence.
Point of View spoke to City of Cape Town MMC for Safety and Security, JP Smith about the taxi violence which has hit the mother city claiming the lives of at least 2 people. To date, there have been 35 arrests.
Listen to the full conversation here:
According to SANTACO, the taxi operator stay away will continue until Wednesday, leaving commuters stranded.
The taxi association is urging all of its drivers to refrain from interfering with other forms of transportation and from engaging in illegal activity.
The chaos has continued throughout the province, with numerous buses being vandalized and set on fire since the strike began.
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City of Cape Town MMC for Safety and Security, JP Smith gave the City’s stance on the ongoing violence, reiterating the importance of upholding law and order.
On the laws that are beings applied in Cape Town
“There are no by-laws involved in this, by-laws is legislation drafted by national government. The law applied here is the National Transportation Act, its a national law, its a law that says when you commit an offence with a taxi, there are certain consequences, those consequences include the impoundment of a taxi and the issuing of a fine. “
“We issue a lot of fines to all kind of road users across the city, especially public transports and taxis” said Smith
On the importance of lives of commuters
“For the more serious offences where the lives of passengers are being put in danger, we impound. That is right and I stand by that position. Because to do any otherwise is to be disrespectful to those commuters, their lives may not be important to others, but they are important to me, and that doesn’t mean that taxi drivers should behave unlawfully. It is non-negotiable.” said Smith
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