The Cabinet will finalise the roll-out plan of the taxi-recapitalisation process by the end of next month — but the transport minister has promised that the much-delayed scrapping of currently ageing vehicles ”will commence this financial year”.
Speaking in his Budget vote in an extended public committee on Friday, the minister said: ”Let me confirm that the scrapping will commence.
”The taxi recap is primarily about the removal of the ageing and unreliable taxi fleet and [its] replacement with new taxi vehicles.
”One group are those vehicles who owners intend to exit the taxi industry immediately. In exchange for the R50 000 scrapping allowance, we will require them to hand in their vehicles and permits and operating licences.
”The others we need to get off the roads quickly are the death traps, the worst wrecks on the road. This will hopefully improve safety quite soon.
”We envisage a period of grace for voluntary surrender of these wrecks, but failure to do so within the time stipulated will lead to these vehicles being impounded. No scrapping allowance will be paid for vehicles impounded in this way.”
Radebe urged that all manufacturers should not try ”to flood the market” in the immediate future with vehicles ”that don’t meet the basic safety standards”, because ”we aim to limit the period in which non-compliant vehicles, regardless of their formal roadworthy status, are on the road with public transport licences”.
He noted that the safety regulations for the new taxi vehicles ”are complete and will be published as regulations next month”.
It has already been agreed that the industry be recapitalised to the tune of R7,7-billion over the next five years.
”The majority of commuters use taxis, but up until now there has not been any subsidy … while a lot of money has been pumped into the buses,” he said.
Asked if the money should not have been spent on other forms of public transport, such as passenger rail, he said the upgrading of rail transport is on track.
”There are major programmes we are involved in [to support] public transport, including the consolidation of passenger rail.” — I-Net Bridge