E-hailing drivers in the City of Tshwane will now have a peace of mind because their vehicles won’t be impounded any more by the police and the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) officers.
In an application brought to court by AfriForum on behalf of several e-hailing operators on Friday, the High Court in Pretoria interdicted the City of Tshwane from impounding any e-hailing vehicles that operate without a permit.
The plaintiffs in this case were WANATU, Pretoria E-hailing Association and several other e-hailing operators, while the respondents were the City of Tshwane Municipality, the Gauteng Department of Transport and the Minister of Transport.
It is only the City of Tshwane Municipality which actively opposed the interdict in court, while the other two respondents didn’t bother to do so.
The court ruled that e-hailing vehicles must not be impounded until the process of obtaining permits is put into effect again by the said respondents.
WANATU started operating in Pretoria and Centurion in October last year but stopped its operations on February 5 this year when police and TMPD officers started impounding their vehicles, citing lack of proper permits as the reason.
However, WANATU and other e-hailing operators proved in court that obtaining an e-hailing permit was impossible as the Gauteng Department of Transport had stopped accepting and processing any applications.
“This is a victory for every e-commuter in the City of Tshwane Metro because the Municipality cannot punish drivers for the delay they did not cause,” said WANATU Chief Executive Officer Judith van der Walt while in the process pointing out that WANATU was committed to complying with all regulations in order to obtain operating permits.
“A full court application, in which WANATU argues that the current legislation requiring permits for taxi services does not apply to e-hailing services, will now follow,” read a statement from AfriForum.
Secretary General of Pretoria E-hailing Association Mlungisi Mabuya admitted that the interdict is a temporary measure, but pointed out that for now e-hailing drivers will have a peace of mind as they go about their business.
“We are not fighting with the City of Tshwane Municipality, we have had several round table meetings with MMC for Transport Tlangi Mogale and those meetings achieved nothing as we were always lectured on laws and by-laws, and ultimately we took the matter to court where we obtained an interdict to stop the City’s TMPD officers from impounding our vehicles,” he said.
In response to the court interdict against the City of Tshwane Municipality, the Metro’s Spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the following:
“The City will study the ruling and seek legal opinion on the matter and furthermore, the City will engage with its national and provincial counterparts from the Department of Roads and Transport to map the way forward, and Tshwane will make a public announcement after conducting all necessary consultations with relevant stakeholders and determine the way forward.”
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