Deputy Speaker, the hon Singh invited the Minister of Transport, S'bu Ndebele, to intervene here in the Western Cape to assist in some kind of solution to the taxi strike that is under way. I'm pleased to say that the hon Minister of Transport, S'bu Ndebele, is, as we speak, actively involved in precisely this. He is meeting with the Taxi Council, both nationally and provincially, and he is also meeting with his counterparts in the province and in the city.
Let me say that it is quite clear that the province does need assistance in this matter. I'm not going to play politics with this, either, as the Minister of Correctional Services said. We could be playing politics with it, but we are not going to. Clearly, a national intervention is required to assist in the resolution of this matter.
Let me also say quite clearly that as the ANC we condemn the violence that seems to have been associated with the strike. Whatever the legitimate demands might be, violence is absolutely inexcusable. It's affecting ordinary communities and ordinary people who are very often bystanders, and it's to be condemned forthright.
I would also like to take the opportunity to note that Metrorail has responded very effectively. The reports that we are getting from people who have switched to rail is that the Khayelitsha line, in particular, has been working flat out, and we have allocated trains specially to ensure that we can do as best as possible to address the problem. This is the same with the local bus companies.
One should salute the role played by the national body of Santaco, which has also asked the Minister to come here actively to assist with the matter. So, we look forward to a solution, and hopefully we can produce the solution very quickly. It will require the co-operation of the provincial government and city government, but particularly that of the provincial government. [Applause.]