BL Premium reports that the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) has taken the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape provincial government to court to stop what it called the continued impounding of its members’ vehicles on grounds not permitted in their mutual agreement.

It also wants taxis it believes were incorrectly impounded released. Santaco filed papers on Wednesday evening calling for an urgent court hearing, which was granted for Thursday. Judgment is expected at midday on Friday. The judge still needs to rule if the case will be heard or dismissed for lack of urgency. The legal action is the first sign of a breakdown in the settlement that ended a weeklong protest that left hundreds of thousands of commuters stranded, five people dead and negatively affected the provincial economy. On 10 August, after a week of talks, Santaco and Western Cape and City of Cape Town officials agreed on when taxis could be impounded, with the rules based on national legislation. Taxis can be impounded if they are not roadworthy and if the driver does not have a driver’s licence, passenger permit or operating licence. After the agreement, 14 taxis were impounded for what the city said were offences such as not being roadworthy. But in its court papers, Santaco argued differently.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
• See too, Judge to rule on Santaco application on Friday, at News24

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page