“This thing [the taxi recapitalisation programme] is going to kill our businesses once and for all. Where will we get customers if all taxis are new and are serviced in town?” asks mechanic and Soweto taxi owner Edward Singo.
Singo is one of Gauteng’s vehicle mechanics in the informal minibus taxi support industry who is worried about the government’s taxi recapitalisation programme — citing unemployment and rising poverty as major threats.
He says his small business is dependent on the South African minibus taxi industry. The new minibus taxis provided through the taxi recapitalisation programme could mean a slump in his humble enterprise.
The informal motor mechanic industry is big in most townships and comprises specialists in different mechanical areas. These include panel beaters, electricians, welders, gearbox fitters, engineers, wheel aligners and diff adjusters. Most of these specialists operate on street corners and in backyards, and employ several helpers.
In Gauteng, according to South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) secretary general Phillip Taaibos, the informal taxi mechanic industry employs about 1 500 people. This is followed by the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, where about 1Â 000 people are employed in each province.
These figures, he says, are not fully representative of the informal taxi mechanic industry because it grows every day. He says the method of data collection is unreliable, because it is based only on those mechanics known to Santaco.
In contrast, the formal motor industry, according to the South African Automotive Yearbook 2006, employs more workers on average. As of June this year, the formal motor distribution and servicing industry employed 321 800 employees. Employment in the automotive component industry stands at 78 000; the wheel industry currently employs 6 600, while the vehicle maintenance industry has 36 700 employees.
Parliamentary portfolio committee chairperson on transport Jeremy Cronin says there are no figures available for this sector, but that about 200 000 individuals are employed by the minibus taxi industry nationally. The figure doubles, he says, when drivers and owners are included. He says the local industry is made up of about 150 000 taxis, with more than 60% of these based in Gauteng.
“Somebody should research the industry. The fact that there are no figures makes it a criticism for all of us in the transport industry,” Cronin says, adding that taxi recapitalisation should not be treated as a “stand alone” but should encompass every element of the sector.
Minibus taxi service is cheaper in the informal sector. Mechanics agree to a set charge for different car problems. In Soweto an electrical wiring job costs a mere R60.
Jabulani Mabuza of Soweto has been a mechanic for the past four years. He does minibus taxi electrical wiring from a busy street corner in Dobsonville. He says on an average day he fixes approximately 12 minibuses for R60 each, which is equal to R720 per day. But he is afraid that taxi recapitalisation will cause further unemployment and poverty.
Mabuza, like Singo, believes taxi recapitalisation should only apply to people with very old minibus taxis. “So far, we have not felt the impact of this thing, but the rate at which new taxis are introduced makes me believe we will experience a shortage of customers very soon,” he says.
But Taaibos disagrees. He says Santaco is doing its best to help these people stay in the industry and will ensure they receive training through the department of labour’s skills development programmes. “We have presented [the idea] of training them and taxi drivers to Teta [Transport Education and Training Authority].”