SOUTH AFRICAN TAXI RANK CLEO MOD GTA SA ANDROID | GTA MZANSI KASI VIBES EXCLUSIVE

Hundreds of minibus taxi operators in South Africa recently defied the government’s COVID-19 restrictions prohibiting them from carrying full passenger loads.

They complained that restricting them to a maximum 70% load – to enable social distancing – made it impossible to make a profit and to earn a living. They were finding it hard to cover their running costs and risked having their vehicles repossessed by the banks for failure to repay the loans on them.

Before the protest, the government allocated a one-off R1.135 billion relief package to taxi operators. But the South African National Taxi Council rejected it as too little. Their demand equated to about R4 billion a month.

Some taxi operators have since increased fares by between 10% and 25% to make up the shortfall, hitting commuters in the pocket. The government eventually acceded to the industry’s demand to be allowed to carry a full load of passengers – except for long distance travel.

The latest spat between the industry and the government is symptomatic of a bigger, fundamental issue. The problem, in my view, is that the government relies on the minibus taxi industry, which is basically informal, to provide public transport, which is the responsibility of government. This anomaly needs to be addressed.

The solution lies in the successful formalisation of the industry and its full integration into the national public transport strategy. The industry should then benefit from government subsidies, as do the rail commuter and bus services. This would also require the industry to abide by minimum safety standards.