On Monday, February 27, 2012, taxi drivers in Essaouira were on strike. Their main demand was the implementation of permanent security measures following multiple assaults against their colleagues, including the one assaulted on Sunday, February 26, 2012, in front of Bab Marrakech by a parking attendant and his brother, who were apprehended by security services.

The victim had received a knife wound to the chest. His serious condition required his emergency transfer to the Marrakech CHU, where he had spent hours waiting to undergo surgery, according to the testimonies of his colleagues, who claimed to have paid 400 dirhams, the price of diesel for the public ambulance that transported him to Marrakech.

"We are just asking for the restoration of security in the city. We are frequently victims of assaults and acts of vandalism, especially in dark and unsecured neighbourhoods and zones like the Skala and even Essaouira El Jadida, where there is still no police station," a taxi driver participating in the sit-in organised at Bab Marrakech told us.

But what arouses the anger of the drivers even more is the feeling of "Hogra" (injustice/humiliation) of which they are victims.

"A driver must meet several criteria and be the subject of investigations and questionnaires before receiving his professional permit. However, we see delinquents authorised to take responsibility for parking lots in plain sight of the authorities!" indignantly says a taxi driver.

The protesters denounce the "Hogra" and the "Siba" (anarchy). They stated that they did not understand the almost total absence of night patrols, while crime continues to gain ground in the city's neighbourhoods, including those located in the heart of the old Medina. According to several testimonies collected on the spot, the security forces do not react to their distress calls, at a time when they are forbidden from defending themselves!

The drivers have located several black spots, starting with the bus station, a crossroads for travellers and professionals, which has become the preferred target of delinquents and criminals.

This affair highlights the scandalous management of the city's parking lots. A real "Siba" that has been raging for several years now.

They are neither controlled nor subjected to an evaluation of their quality or legality of management.

Once selected, the bidder for the call for tenders proceeds to the distribution and sub-letting of the city's parking lots and leaves, leaving citizens facing new tenants acting illegally and imposing surprising prices and methods. Contenting themselves just with wearing a vest, they manifest such strange aggressiveness towards users who are scolded, mistreated, threatened, and sometimes assaulted.

It took an isolated incident to lay bare the problems of insecurity, depravity, public health, and governance in the City of the Trade Winds.