Director General of Transport Wrenelle Stander told members of Parliament on Wednesday that the proposed R50 000 taxi “scrapping allowance” was not linked to the purchase of a new taxi vehicle — and she expected many operators to exit an increasingly “consolidated” taxi market.
Noting that the allowance would only be available to “legal operators,” she said that R7,7-billion was available for taxi recapitalisation although R2,2-billion of this would go to policing the system — which she described as “law enforcement initiatives”.
Stander said the “Scrapping Agency” — which will oversee the scrapping of old and unsafe vehicles — and its administration, was in the process of being developed.
“We are in the process of completing the second of five phases for the setting up of this agency.”
For the period from April this year for “seven years and beyond” the new regulations would be enforced and “the actual scrapping of the existing minibus taxis” would take place.
Further consultations were expected to be held with the South African National Taxi Council in March. “We hope by April that we will publish the final specifications for the vehicles,” she said.
She told Members of the National Assembly transport portfolio committee — chaired by African National Congress MP Jeremy Cronin — on Wednesday, that February — this month — was targeted for the finalisation of “draft regulations” for publication of safety requirements in the government gazette.
Asked by Democratic Alliance transport spokesperson Stuart Farrow whether there was the capacity in the provinces to deal with the administration of the scrapping procedure, Stander said: “That is one of the elements of risk that we have identified. We can’t say exactly how it is going to look yet … whether it will be outsourced to a [commercial] bank. That is definitely an area of risk.”
And she added: “We [the Transport Department] are working hard to convince treasury that we may have to extend the pool of resources [for the taxi recapitalisation].”
Transport department official Lucky Montana said the capacity of the provinces would be something “we will be paying close attention to”.
Montana said it was most important that someone could not simply bring “a [unused] kombi on blocks” and claim the subsidy.
Proof that the vehicle had been in the system and belonged to an operator had to be made. He also warned that it would not be feasible that the scrapping agency should end up costing R70Â 000 to deliver a R50Â 000 subsidy. That would be “one of the most inefficient operations we would have”.
Earlier indications were that the first minibus taxis fitted with the new safety features were expected to hit the road in April — but a later roll-out now looks likely.
Stander told MPs that the end of August was targeted for the finalisation of the business process “for the implementation of the scrapping agency and administration process”.
The government has already moved away from the originally envisaged 18 to 35-
seater taxi vehicles to a more flexible approach depending on high or low density routes. Nine-seater taxis are now being considered for some routes with fewer commuters. – I-Net Bridge