Pretoria – The National Taxi Alliance (NTA) has urged commuters to be alert as they travel to different destinations across South Africa, amid calls for a “national shutdown” scheduled for today.
“We have our marshals on high alert, and so is every taxi operator and our drivers. We would like to also urge our commuting masses to be fully on alert and when they experience these threats of violence, they should report them to the relevant authorities,” NTA spokesperson Theo Malele said.
Malele said the National Taxi Alliance is concerned about the threats of violence on commuters going about their daily routines.
“To us, today is business as usual and we wouldn’t expect to be disturbed in going about our economic activities. Neither would we allow our commuting masses to be disturbed. We cannot afford, or rather allow anarchy in the country. So, if there are disputes, dialogue is always there, even this country got its democratisation process through dialogue,” he said.
Malele highlighted that his organisation is not taking part in the purported national shutdown, and does not even know the people behind the calls for a strike on Friday.
“We certainly are not part of these activities today. We don’t even know who these people are, and neither has anybody confronted us in an effort of trying to get us to participate with them. We are not part of any of those,” Malele said.
“As we have put it across, we are actually internalising this … we are giving dialogue an opportunity, with government. Only when that fails, will we reconvene, relook what are possible ways and means of exerting the necessary pressure for our demands to be acceded to. Obviously, we will talk to like-minded organisations – civil society and organised labour to be able to achieve this objective.”
With a flurry of social media messages circulating amid calls for a national shutdown, the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJoints) has issued a warning against those found to be circulating messages of an imminent strike adding that it has put measures in place to react to the possible shutdown.
“The NatJoints met on Wednesday, 8 June 2022, where they were briefed by the Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee (ICC) on the validity of the call for a national shutdown. The intelligence community is closely monitoring the situation and the associated risks,” said spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe.
“The intelligence community is closely monitoring the situation and the associated risks.
Mathe said law enforcement officers have been deployed and are on high alert to prevent and combat any forms of criminality.
“The respective ProvJoints have been directed to ensure multidisciplinary deployments and that the necessary contingency plans are in place,” she said.
“The NatJoints assures members of the public that enforcement of the law will be executed within relevant prescripts to ensure stability in the country.”
The NatJoints said it was aware of the unsigned messages and posters being circulated on social media about the national shutdown intended to protest over fuel price hikes and other economic challenges affecting South Africans.
IOL