Taxi union wants to challenge law
Taxi union wants to challenge law

Taxi union wants to challenge law

A union representing taxi drivers wants to challenge the transport­ law in court for a number­ of reasons.
Jana-Mari Smith
The Namibia Transport and Taxi Union (NTTU) will make a down payment to engage lawyers within the next two weeks to tackle a number of issues, including lack of regulations protecting taxi drivers and a transportation law they describe as unconstitutional and discriminating against taxi drivers.

Union boss Werner Januarie says he has withdrawn N$2 000 this week and begun to scout around for lawyers willing to challenge what he deems are unconstitutional clauses in the Road Traffic and Transport Act, including phrasing that includes terms such as “servant” within the permit regulations.

Januarie says another N$5 500 has been deposited into the NTTU account to pay for legal advice.

“The biggest priority right now is to make sure that the 1977 Act is thrown out so that we can come up with new regulations in order to set the industry at higher standards. I think this will solve all the problems we face currently,” he says.

Nevertheless, the union accepts that taking on a legal battle will be costly. To raise funds, it has compiled a comprehensive taxi fare pricelist reflecting the recent 20% increase, which includes details on the cost of transporting extra loads.

The price list is being sold for N$95. According to Januarie about 100 drivers have bought it so far.

He says it will help to avoid conflict over fares and is in line with regulations stipulating that taxi drivers need to have a list handy at all times.

Januarie says if taxi drivers are serious about changing their lot, and agree to assist the union in their mission to take their issues to court, they all need to chip in.

“Those not on the buyer's register, we will deal with them. The people who have been registered as having bought the list, they will receive additional benefits from the union.”

As part of the legal battle, one or more taxi drivers with outstanding traffic fines will be selected. Their fines will be paid by the union in an effort to demonstrate the challenges faced by the sector.

Januarie says one of their grievances is the fact that taxi drivers are fined, and not the taxi owners.

He says the law and permit conditions refer to the “holders of permits”, who are the owners of the taxis.

“What we want to do with the legal case is to have the traffic fines shifted from the driver and instead issued to the owners. The drivers will no longer be responsible for traffic fines, and the owners can deal with those.”

He adds that the law and permit conditions refer to drivers as “servants”, instead of employees.

“The court must find that to be unlawful. There is no law regulating servants. Drivers must be regarded and declared as employees.”

He says servants are beholden to, and must obey, a master. “It's a master-and-servant relationship. The bosses can do whatever they please.”

Januarie believes changing the way taxi drivers are legally described would help when negotiating better conditions of employment for taxi drivers.

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-28

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Katima Mulilo: 19° | 37° Rundu: 17° | 33° Eenhana: 18° | 33° Oshakati: 20° | 31° Ruacana: 19° | 33° Tsumeb: 17° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 28° Omaruru: 18° | 31° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Gobabis: 17° | 28° Henties Bay: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:54, High tide: 04:57, Low Tide: 22:58, High tide: 17:16 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 29km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:55, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:14 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 33km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:54, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:13 Rehoboth: 18° | 29° Mariental: 22° | 32° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 34° Aranos: 21° | 31° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 34° Oranjemund: 15° | 21° Luanda: 27° | 30° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 24° Mbabane: 15° | 23° Maseru: 12° | 28° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 29° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Cape Town: 17° | 23° Durban: 21° | 25° Johannesburg: 18° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 18° | 30° Harare: 15° | 31° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.93 | EUR to NAD 20.49 | CNY to NAD 2.63 | USD to NAD 18.99 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.8 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.1 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.3 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 18.99 | USD to ZMW 24.97 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 73909.5 Up +0.41% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1516.02 Down -0.13% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12981.98 Up +0.34% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 28224.37 Down -2.87% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - 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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 208.02/OZ UP +0.79% | Copper US$ 3.97/lb DOWN -0.0034 | Zinc US$ 2 444.40/T DOWN -0.49% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.34/BBP UP +1.11% | Platinum US$ 899.07/OZ UP +0.47%