This comes after bus operators in the province yesterday claimed they had been promised temporary permits by Tikana.
The South African National Taxi Council’s (Santaco) provincial leader Noluntu Mahashe said they had already served the department with court papers.
However, this could not be confirmed by transport department spokesman Ncedo Kumbaca.
“We have not been taken to court by anyone,” Kumbaca said.
The taxi operators have accused Tikana’s office of delaying the process.
Eastern Cape Bus Council chairman Bixie Mkutu told the Daily Dispatch yesterday that his association had met with the department and an agreement to issue temporary permits had been reached.
“We met with the MEC on Tuesday regarding the issuing of the permits and she agreed that we will get temp permits,” said Mkutu.
“We agreed that we will operate with these until the department resolves issues that it has with municipalities. The likelihood is that these issues will only be completely resolved in May next year.”
While Kumbaca confirmed the meeting between Tikana and the Eastern Cape Bus Council, he refuted claims that the use of temporary permits was agreed upon.
“The MEC met with the bus industry but it is untrue that they have been granted temporary permits. The MEC is still applying her mind on the issue of temporary permits.”
Asked what has caused the delays in the issuing of the permits, Kumbaca said the department still needed to assess routes in municipalities. “Routes are saturated and we are going to conduct an assessment of the current routes in consultation with municipalities and ascertain those that can be considered for operating licences,” he said.
Earlier this month security had to be beefed up at Tikana’s office after hundreds of Eastern Cape taxi operators staged a sit-in.
The Daily Dispatch understands that 94 member associations in the province are affected by the non-issuing of the permits. — siphem@dispatch.co.za