Meta accuses police of bias over taxi interdict violations

Lawyers representing the Mdantsane East London Taxi Association (Meta) this week wrote to Justice Minister Michael Masutha and Eastern Cape transport, safety and liaison MEC Weziwe Tikana asking them to intervene in an ongoing standoff between Meta and four other taxi associations in Buffalo City Metro.

This comes after Meta was granted an East London High Court interdict which prevented the other four from intimidating, assaulting and stopping their members from operating in various taxi ranks across the metro last week.

Mdantsane East London and Districts Taxi Association, Mdantsane Uncedo Taxi Association, East London Taxi Association and Uncedo Taxi Association based at Mdantsane’s Kuyasa Shopping Centre were given until December 7 to show why such a court order should not be made permanent.

This week Meta also accused police of playing “dirty games” by failing to enforce their court interdict.

Tikana yesterday said she had instructed a senior official “to deal with the issue”.

Masutha’s spokesman, advocate Mthunzi Mhaga, had failed to respond to questions by deadline time yesterday.

Meta claimed the police had frustrated their efforts to report violations of the interdict and were taking sides instead of enforcing the legally binding order.

They have also written to the acting police commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba highlighting their plight. Mothiba’s spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo had also failed to respond to questions by late yesterday.

In correspondence dated November 20, Meta’s lawyers, Karien Botma Attorneys, said since the interdict was granted last Thursday, “the respondents blatantly refused to adhere to the court order”.

“On November 18 the applicants reported the criminal activities of the respondents to the East London Police Station. The police refused to assist the complainants and open up a case, citing the poor excuse that they cannot enforce the interdict, that it is not binding and that they were not sure if it was obtained legally,” stated the attorneys.

“It was outright clear that the police are unwilling to assist and are biased, but it is their responsibility to enforce court orders and assist the applicants pertaining to the reporting of criminal cases.”

Last week the Dispatch reported on rising tensions at taxi ranks in Mseleni, Shoprite/Checkers, Boxer and Ebuhlanti in the East London CBD, while Meta operators claimed that they were intimidated, threatened with violence and chased out of Beacon Bay, Gonubie, Oriental Plaza and Vincent taxi ranks

The four associations were also barred from preventing Meta operators from operating at Kuyasa and Highway taxi ranks.

The court interdict was issued by Justice Bantubonke Tokota during a high court sitting in East London last Thursday.