The Ivory Park Taxi Association held a memorial service to honour the lives of those involved in the tragic taxi accident which took place on the N1 claiming at least 10 people’s lives, reported on in the article, Who takes the blame? [Week ending 23 August].
Families, friends, members of various taxi associations in surrounding areas, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) board representatives from regional, provincial and national level as well as Gauteng MEC for Transport Jacob Mamabolo were all in attendance to show support and pay respect at the Rabie Ridge Community Hall on 22 August in Rabie Ridge.
Mamabolo proposed that the province and Santaco join forces. “We should push the Tlhokomela (beware) programme which was founded by the taxi council instead of us starting a new road-safety programme.
“The taxi industry carries 70 per cent of commuters in the province and the government has decided to educate taxi drivers and support the taxi industry.
“Government must put aside money to better the performance of our drivers. Therefore, we will establish a taxi academy to ensure that driving a taxi becomes a profession.
“We all know a licence just proves that you are allowed to drive, but does not necessarily mean you are skilled enough and really can drive, so we have decided that we should allow taxi drivers to go for advanced driving lessons to make sure that when a driver drives they have all the necessary papers with regard to their profession.”
He added, “By so doing I believe we can change a lot in terms of how we [government and taxi industry] work together.
“I believe there is nothing bigger than education. Only education can fix our problems and move us forward. I urge all associations that when we professionalise this industry we do not just allow anybody to be a driver, driver candidates must first undergo a background check to see if they have been to the academy, are well trained and are truly skilled.”
Mamabolo ended his speech by sending his condolences as well as adding that the investigation report will soon come out and the truth will be known.
“I believe the truth has to come out so families can find comfort as I am sure they are asking themselves endless questions at the moment so I ask that we be patient and focus on moving forward.”
Johannes Mkhonza, who is the chairperson of the Ivory Park Taxi Association (Ipta) made it clear and assured all families that Ipta would assist the families with everything they needed as far as burials were concerned.
“We will also assist with transport to go to various areas because we are aware that about four to five of the deceased came from neighbouring countries,” he added.
“Therefore on behalf of Ipta and myself, we will do our best to assist those who lost their loved ones.”
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