Matatiele commuters vow to close down the municipal offices till MEC Tikana comes to Matatiele
There will be a complete shutdown all over the Eastern Cape Province, Taxi Ranks and towns because of the arrogance of the MEC of the Department of Transport Weziwe Tikana. She is not taking the transport Industry serious. This is written in an unsigned letter leaked to The Informer today and is doing rounds in the social media. In an interview Eastern Cape Santaco Secretary, Vusumzi Mbewu did not want to own the letter but confirmed that there will be a strike by the Transport Industry in the whole of the Eastern Cape. “This will happen on Wednesday the 19th of September 2018. “There wont be taxis or vans faring passengers from home to any destination on that day. We are forced to embark on this action by the Department of Transport who is on a concerted effort to ignore our complaints. Since 2016 we have been complaining about the payment of the annual increment and payment of unexpected expenses like the rise of petrol which is increasing a number of times with regard to scholar transport. A number of meetings which we held with a number of MECs and ANC Provincial leaders are bearing no fruit”, said Mbewu. As if that is not enough commuters in Matatiele have labelled the MEC as a lier. Speaking through their leader Teboho Stemere commuters said, MEC Tikana has accused commuters of intimidating machine operators who are working on three roads that the MEC committed to gravel. It is said that this has lead to the MEC withdrawing these machine operators from identified sites. Stemere said they have never intimidated anybody other than to request the operators to do a quality job. “Tikana is a lier she said she is bringing enough machinery to construct these roads but she did not do that. Instead the worker has exposed the inefficiency and weakness of her department.” he said. Commuters in Matatiele have decided to change their strategy of completely shutting down the town but instead embarked on closing down the Municipal Offices this morning. An intervention by the Mayor failed to change their minds on that action. They said they are going to close the offices till the MEC who promised to come back this coming Friday arrives. Responding to this matter Eastern Cape Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison, spokesperson, Unathi Binqose described the allegations of arrogance and not taking the taxi industry seriously, levelled against Transport, Safety and Liaison MEC Weziwe Tikana, as unfortunate and very unfair. “MEC Tikana is one of the most humble, fair and yet very firm people around. She has on numerous occasions held robust, frank and yet cordial engagements with leaders in the taxi industry and she also acknowledges the role played by the taxi industry in keeping the weeks of production and service delivery moving in the province. She also recognises the cry as a legitimate one, however due to budgetary constraints, her hands are tied.” He said. Binqose called on passengers to make alternative transport arrangements for Wednesday following reports of an imminent strike by SANTACO across the province. The reported strike by SANTACO is undesirable and is likely to have a negative impact on both government and the private sector”, Binqose said. Commenting on the Matatiele issue, Binqose appealed to the people of Matatiele to calm down and give the department a chance to do what we have committed to do. “We came to Matatiele three times in a row, that on its own is a sign that the Department cares so we are pleading with them to stop the protest action and then prove us wrong.” He concluded.
