South African commuter taxi operators to strike over bus system they say threatens business

South African taxis to strike over bus system

JOHANNESBURG — The entrepreneurs who move commuters around Johannesburg are threatening to strike next month to protest a new public bus system.

The South African National Taxi Drivers Council said Wednesday its indefinite strike will start Sept. 1, when the new buses are to start running. The group says the strike will be peaceful. The group’s leader, Philip Taaibosch, said members won’t let their “business be taken away.”

Black entrepreneurs stepped in during apartheid, running taxi vans for blacks when the white government did little. But the unregulated business is dangerous, with poorly maintained vans and drivers resorting to violence to keep their routes.

The post-apartheid government says it wants to provide safe, cheap and efficient mass transportation.