Fixing SA’s minibus taxi industry is proving hard

The South African government has initiated a process to formalise and regulate the mini-bus taxi industry, with a view to making it viable and free of violence. According to Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, training of operators and taxi workers across the value chain should be an integral part of the industry development and skilling pro-gramme.

The effort, if it succeeds, will resolve the anomaly where the government relies on the informal transport sector to provide a key public transport service. Minibus taxis are the preferred mode of transport for most commuters because they are more efficient and widely available than buses and trains. The black taxi industry’s battles mirror those of black people against racial oppression and economic exclusion. In the past, taxi operators were subjected to fines, and often had their vehicles impounded and forfeited to the state.

Despite the limitations, the demand for taxi services continued to grow fast. Competition over routes grew and often became violent. Eventually, the Transport Deregulation Act of 1988, in conjunction with the White Paper on Transport Policy, tabled in January 1987, eased restrictions. Any applicant who wanted to enter the industry was granted a permit to operate a minibus taxi. The industry kept growing.

Profits were reinvested to buy new taxi fleets. Thus, the mini-bus taxi industry was one of the first in which black people could gain economic power. Minibus taxis have special significance as a black-owned industry which survived apartheid laws and without any sub-sidies to provide an essential service for black people. After apartheid, from April 1994, efforts were made to bring the industry under some form of regulation and to formalise its operations. In 1999, the government took another shot at formalising the industry. It introduced the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme to remove old, unsafe minibuses and replace them with safer ones.

The government envisioned a new, regulated taxi industry, us-ing larger 18-seater and 35-seater diesel-powered vehicles. The old, smaller taxis were to be phased out to reduce the number of vehicles on the road and improve safety. Operators who agreed to scrap their old taxis were paid R50 000 for each, to buy a new, compliant one. The programme was revised in 2019 and the scrapping allowance was increased.

But only 72 690 old vehicles had been scrapped by the end of September 2018, in the 12 years since 2006, against a readjusted target of 135 894.

Fobosi is a senior researcher at the University of Fort Hare

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