{"id":250609,"date":"2023-02-21T05:13:42","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T03:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.groundup.org.za\/article\/we-cannot-bypass-tender-process-education-mec-tells-mfuleni-taxi-bosses\/"},"modified":"2023-02-21T05:13:42","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T03:13:42","slug":"taxi-protests-we-cannot-bypass-tender-processes-mec-tells-bosses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/taxi-protests-we-cannot-bypass-tender-processes-mec-tells-bosses\/","title":{"rendered":"Taxi protests: We cannot bypass tender processes, MEC tells bosses"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article_body\">\n<p><a class=\"bigger-image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.groundup.org.za\/media\/uploads\/images\/photographers\/Masixole%20Feni\/children_walk_to_school_in_mfuleni.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/taxi-protests-we-cannot-bypass-tender-processes-mec-tells-bosses.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\">Many learners from Mfuleni and surrounding areas were prevented from going to school last week by taxi operators who are demanding they be given a contract with the provincial education department. Photos: Masixole Feni<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Thousands of learners in Mfuleni, Khayelitsha and surrounding communities returned to school on Monday morning following a week-long protest by taxi operators last week.<\/li>\n<li>They were preventing private cars and other scholar transport vehicles from taking learners to school.<\/li>\n<li>The taxi associations are demanding that they be allowed to transport learners to school instead.<\/li>\n<li>But the MEC for Education, David Maynier emphasised that contracts cannot be allocated without following tender processes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Thousands of learners in Mfuleni, Khayelitsha and surrounding communities in Cape Town were able to travel to school again on Monday morning following protests by taxi operators last week.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt class=\"leave\" height=\"1\" id=\"gu_counter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/taxi-protests-we-cannot-bypass-tender-processes-mec-tells-bosses.gif\" width=\"1\"><\/p>\n<p>The Western Cape Education Department (WCED), said that between 3,000 and 5,000 learners were absent from schools daily last week as taxi drivers and operators intimidated and blocked all private scholar transport from operating.<\/p>\n<p>According to Andile Kanyi, provincial spokesman for Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (CODETA), they have been in talks with the department about a partnership for scholar transport since early 2022.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe met with Deputy Director-General Salie Abrahams and emailed him several times and he never replied. We phoned the department several times. They would say he is not here, leave a message, but never came back to us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have decided to transport children from Khayelitsha free of charge while the buses are not operating in Khayelitsha. We are very surprised by [Education MEC David Maynier] calling us thieves and accusing us of extortion. We don\u2019t understand where those allegations are coming from or what information he received? He doesn\u2019t want to listen to us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"bigger-image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.groundup.org.za\/media\/uploads\/images\/photographers\/Masixole%20Feni\/mfuleni_taxi_protest.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt class=\"warn_big\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/taxi-protests-we-cannot-bypass-tender-processes-mec-tells-bosses-1.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\">Last week, taxis blocked some of the main roads in Mfuleni.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement last week Maynier labelled the associations participating in the protests a \u201cTaxi mafia\u201d. He denied that any promises were made to the taxi operators. \u201cThe minibus taxi associations appear to be demanding that we allocate transport contracts to them without following tender processes, which we cannot and will not do. It is simply illegal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Maynier told GroundUp that during the tender process, potential contractors are required to have specific vehicles to be used on the route. \u201cA contract is only awarded where the vehicles have sufficient seating capacity for all the approved learners on the route. School principals and relevant district officials ensure that Learner Transport Scheme (LTS) contractors adhere to the conditions of this contract. Non-compliance with contractual obligations, including overloading of vehicles, leads to written warnings and eventually the termination of the contract in cases of persistent non-compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said other requirements include having a certified and valid licence, roadworthy certificates for each approved vehicle, vehicles with a seating capacity of 16 seats or less, and vehicles must have been tested within six or less months, among other things.<\/p>\n<p>Maynier said these scholar transport vehicles must also be subjected to route and unannounced inspections to monitor compliance. \u201cIn cases where non-compliance with contractual conditions is identified, the transgressing contractor must be placed in breach of contract and requested to remedy the breach. Should the contractor not comply, a written report must immediately be submitted to the Directorate: Procurement Management with a recommendation to terminate the contract.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A parent in Mfuleni, who didn\u2019t want to be identified, told GroundUp that her children who attend Blackheath primary and Kuils River Technical High School were left traumatised after the taxi operators threatened the Avanza scholar transport driver.<\/p>\n<p>She said most learners could not go to school since last Monday. \u201cWe may find private cars but we have already paid for our usual transport. It\u2019s difficult because most of us have no money\u2026. We want the [taxi] drivers to stop blocking children from travelling to school. They are not considering the future of our children. They are being selfish,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"bigger-image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.groundup.org.za\/media\/uploads\/images\/photographers\/Masixole%20Feni\/taxi_protest.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/taxi-protests-we-cannot-bypass-tender-processes-mec-tells-bosses-2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\">Western Cape police say they will monitor engagements between taxi associations and government departments.<\/p>\n<p>The mother said she overheard a taxi driver saying that they are losing business to private scholar transport. \u201cAs parents we would like to know how they will manage because in the morning they are also struggling to take people to work. There\u2019s always snaking queues of commuters waiting for a taxi, so how will they manage to take children on time to school?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>Mavuso Gqola, committee member of the Spiritual Crime Prevention Forum, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.saps.gov.za\/newsroom\/speech%20detail.php?nid=41239\">established in 2021<\/a> to fight crime in certain areas, said, \u201cThe problem has been ongoing for over two years. Taxis are also expensive and some people in the community are not working. They are living on grants and get help from family and friends with private cars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gqola said the forum will meet with police, taxi bosses and others to try and resolve the impasse. \u201cWe have engaged taxis to find a sustainable solution but they say they do not have work and that providing school transport will enable them to earn income,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Western Cape police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said, \u201cA stern warning is issued to all involved. Western Cape police will not hesitate to take decisive action against those who transgress the law. On another level, SAPS will constantly monitor engagement between taxi associations and the respective government departments.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"article_copyright\">\n<p>\u00a9 2023 GroundUp. This article is licensed under a <a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\" rel=\"license\">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and GroundUp, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.<\/p>\n<p>We put an invisible pixel in the article so that we can count traffic to republishers. All analytics tools are solely on our servers. We do not give our logs to any third party. Logs are deleted after two weeks. We do not use any IP address identifying information except to count regional traffic. We are solely interested in counting hits, <b>not tracking<\/b> users. If you republish, please do not delete the invisible pixel.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/taxi-protests-we-cannot-bypass-tender-processes-mec-tells-bosses.jpg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.groundup.org.za\/\">Source: GroundUp<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many learners from Mfuleni and surrounding areas were prevented from going to school last week by taxi operators who are demanding they be given a contract with the provincial education department. Photos: Masixole Feni Thousands of learners in Mfuleni, Khayelitsha and surrounding communities returned to school on Monday morning following a week-long protest by taxi [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":250610,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9928,3247],"tags":[28001],"class_list":{"0":"post-250609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-groundup","8":"category-news","9":"tag-groundup","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/taxi-protests-we-cannot-bypass-tender-processes-mec-tells-bosses.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}