Almost a thousand taxis have so far been scrapped under the government’s recapitalisation programme, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Thursday.
He was speaking at a ceremony at a sports stadium in Belhar, Cape Town, marking the launch of the programme in the Western Cape.
According to the Taxi Scrapping Authority (TSA), a total of R49-million has so far been paid out in terms of the R50Â 000 scrapping allowances, and another R32-million will be paid for the 658 applications currently being processed by the TSA.
The bulk of the vehicles are from the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, the first two provinces to launch the programme at the end of last year.
The government estimates there are about 120Â 000 taxis on the country’s roads, and Radebe told taxi operators in March 2006 that he intended to have 10Â 000 of them scrapped by December the same year.
”About 981 have been physically scrapped,” he told the South African Press Association (Sapa) at Thursday’s ceremony, where hundreds of taxi operators and drivers watched the first Western Cape taxi, a white Toyota minibus, being compressed into a lump of metal.
”I’m happy with the rate or progress taking into account the challenges that we are facing in the taxi industry.
”And I do hope that when all the infrastructure of the taxi agencies is in place in all the provinces, we are going to be accelerating the process of scrapping.”
He said the programme is ”definitely” on target for scrapping at least 80% of taxis by the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
The government has committed R7,7-billion to the programme.
In a speech, Radebe repeated President Thabo Mbeki’s State of the Nation warning that the government will not be bullied into abandoning the recapitalisation programme.
”No amount of intimidation and violence will stop up from forging ahead,” he said.
”I call upon all South Africans to support this programme with dedication and determination.”
South African National Taxi Council president AJ Mthembu said the council is negotiating with manufacturers of the new vehicles for better prices, but it is no use having cheaper vehicles if the government does not bring the industry into the public transport subsidy system, along with bus operators, immediately.
”The price of such vehicles will remain a challenge to our operators on the basis that we continue to service the poorest of the poor in our country,” he said.
”And as a result even the price that we charge to our commuters is not the price that would enable us to be able … to pay for each instalment.
”The issue of … the subsidy can no longer be postponed, but needs to be effected immediately so it goes hand-in-hand with the new vehicles.”
At the ceremony, a set of keys to a spanking new Mercedes 17-seater Sprinter was handed over to the first beneficiary under the programme in the Western Cape, Khayelitsha operator Alfred Gagela.
Gagela told Sapa he had been given a R50Â 000 scrapping allowance without having handed in an old vehicle.
He was also unaware of what his monthly repayment on the new vehicle would be, but felt he could manage up to R5Â 000.
TSA representative Thulani Kubheka said Gagela did in fact hand in a vehicle on Wednesday, and that it was inspected, deregistered and retained by the TSA.
”The vehicle he’s getting R50Â 000 for, he doesn’t have in his possession,” Kubheka said.
Scrapping has so far been launched in five provinces. It has still to take off in Limpopo (next week), Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West. — Sapa