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Fifa worries about SA's transport issues
By Clayton Barnes
Fifa has expressed concern over the violent taxi industry protests that
caused havoc in the Cape, fearing further flare-ups could affect the number
of visitors to the country in 2010.
The international football body on Wednesday called on the government
to take "urgent action" to make sure issues affecting the Bus
Rapid Transit (BRT) system were resolved before the World Cup.
Taxi drivers and owners on Tuesday wreaked havoc across the city in an
attempt to paralyse Cape Town's public transport network by stoning buses
and private vehicles, shooting at bus drivers and intimidating fellow
taxi drivers who refused to join the protest.
The scenes led to concern that the country's image abroad could be tarnished
ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
But Fifa, the international football body in charge of the event, said
while it was concerned, there was a great level of trust and confidence
that South Africa would deliver on its promise of hosting the best Fifa
World Cup yet.
Fifa spokesperson Delia Fischer said the government and the responsible
ministers should listen to and address the taxi industry's grievances
"properly and accordingly".
"The taxi industry plays an important part in preparations before
and during the World Cup," said Fischer.
"We are concerned about what took place in Cape Town and would like
to encourage the City of Cape Town and the relevant departments to resolve
this matter as quickly as possible.
Fischer added that Fifa would be monitoring the situation over the next
few weeks as they feared it could affect the number of visitors to the
country for n2009's Confederations Cup, and the 2010 tournament.
2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC) spokesperson Jermaine Craig said
the LOC was discussing the matter with taxi industry roleplayers, and
would continue "engaging" them until an agreement was reached.
He said taxi violence and how law enforcement should deal with similar
flare-ups during the World Cup would be included in the LOC's national
safety and security plan to make sure supporters, locals and visitors
were safe.
Mike Marsden, the city's executive director of service delivery integration,
said the violent taxi protests would have "very little impact"
on the 2010 World Cup, although taxi drivers and owners had protested
over the BRT system being implemented for the World Cup and beyond.
He said the city's 2010 contingency plans were "robust" and
included plans on how to deal with unexpected violence during the event.
Meanwhile, taxi operators have said they would make the 2010 World Cup
ungovernable if their grievances were not heard.
Mandla Mata, National Taxi Alliance provincial head, said the taxi associations
would mobilise and stay away from the polls "en masse" in 2009
if the BRT system was not "done away with".
"If nothing is done in 14 days, we will not transport the thousands
of people that need to be transported to and from work in the province
every day," said Mata.
iol.co.za,
December 11 2008
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