The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has on the whole welcomed the taxi recapitalisation programme roll-out plan announced recently, but it has questioned key elements of the strategy.
Santaco spokesperson Reggie Mutsi said that council welcomed the strategy as most of the issues it it had raised during its input into the revised programme had been incorporated in the new plan.
Mini-ster of Transport Jeff Radebe this week announced the details of the Cabinet-approved recapitalisation roll-out strategy. This includes the aim of scrapping old and unroadworthy taxis, for which -owners will receive a payment of R50 000.
Taxi owners will have to register with the Operating Licensing Boards, which will verify the -validity of -permits and operating licences before the allowances can be paid. The department plans to remove 10 000 taxis from the streets by December next year.
”The roll-out strategy identifies the need in the short-term for the removal of the very oldest and unroadworthy taxi vehicles from South African roads, putting the safety of commuters first,” said Radebe.
Mutsi said the scrapping allowance was welcomed, but in Santaco’s view a major sticking point is the decision to hand control of taxi ranks over to local municipalities.
”Our view is that the municipalities do not have the capacity to handle these taxi ranks,” said Mutsi. ”It can only be workable if the industry sits around the table with the minister of transport, local government and the minister of finance and make sure that funding for taxi ranks is made a priority in local government financing.”
The proposal that all taxis should be diesel-run was questioned by -Santaco, which feels that this is not a decision that the government should be making for taxi owners.
Mutsi claimed that the differences between diesel and petrol engines would mean that mechanics employed by taxi owners would have to have further training so that they can service the new taxi fleets.
The strategy also deals with safety requirements for new taxis, such as seatbelts, braking systems, wheel bands, rollover bars and speed governors, which will restrict speed to a maximum of 100kph. Final regulations will be published in the Government Gazette by August 1.
Taxis that do not comply with these safety regulations by January 1 next year will not be licensed to operate. Radebe added that Cabinet had agreed that taxis would be -colour-coded in the future.
Radebe announced that amendments to the national Land Transport Act with a view to strengthening the regulation of the industry would be introduced in the next -session of Parliament and that R2,5-billion had been set aside over the next five years to strengthen public transport law enforcement capacity.
”In view of the regulatory steps to be undertaken, it is now clear that the days of the taxi industry regulating itself will soon become a thing of the past,” said Radebe.