A meeting between a Table View residents’ organisation and the Dunoon Taxi Association (DTA) to open a dialogue fell through last week, but hope remains that they will be able to find one another.
The meeting was meant to see the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Greater Table View Action Forum (GTAF) and the DTA that would have opened a channel of communication between the communities of Dunoon and Table View and allowed residents and taxi drivers to find common ground.
The DTA started posting marshals along its Blaauwberg Road route at the beginning of September to monitor its drivers’ behaviour, in response to a flood of complaints from Table View residents.
The move led to a warming of the frequently frosty relationship between Table View residents and the taxi body and a meeting between the DTA and GTAF was scheduled for Wednesday September 13. However, the DTA pulled out, saying it was premature.
DTA vice secretary Desmond Nobuntu said the association had cancelled after its chairman voiced reservations.
“Myself and a few DTA representatives met with GTAF a week earlier, but the problem was that our chairperson wasn’t there. When we made him aware of the proposal to sign the MOU, he said that a decision like that could not be made because it is not only the DTA that uses those routes,” said Mr Nobuntu.
Ysterplaat, Koeberg and Maitland taxi associations also use the routes, and the chairman felt a meeting should include all relevant stakeholders.
While the meeting didn’t happen, GTAF chairwoman Karen Davis believes some important first steps have been taken and she is pleased that the DTA has at least considered a working relationship.
“We are not disappointed because this could be a start of good things. We admit that we might have rushed into thinking that an understanding would happen so prematurely, but I believe that this is a step in the right direction.”
She said there had been positive feedback from the community and she had noticed an improvement in driver behaviour since the DTA posted marshals along its routes.
“Driver behaviour has changed for the better. It’s a pleasant experience driving up Blaauwberg Road,” she said.
