Date: 28/04/2005
Source: Department of Labour
Title: Mdladlana: Launch of Sectoral Determination for Taxi Sector
Speech given by the Minister of Labour, M Mdladlana, at the launch of the Taxi Sectoral Determination, African Window Conference Centre
The Chairperson
Comrades
Ladies and gentlemen
My distinguished guest from the employer and employee organisations
SANTACO, Top Six Taxi Management, SATAWU
It is my pleasure to welcome you to this a fundamental step in our government’s continued quest in formalising the minibus taxi industry - the launch of a sectoral determination for taxi drivers and other workers within the taxi sector.
The taxi industry is a sector that we need to be particularly proud of. Our people started it, our people have grown the sector and it is our people that came together in acknowledging the need for the sector to be formalised. It is also not a coincidence that we launch the sectoral determination today. Today is also the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The concern for safety and health as well as adequate conditions of employment for the sector provided the impetus and the motivation to arrive at what we have today.
It is also not incidental that we launch this determination in Tshwane in Gauteng. The poignancy of the events in 1957 in Alexandria should not be forgotten lest we forget the roots of the sector. Its growth pains were felt in the heart of our struggle for democracy and change. We should never forget the “Asinamali” campaign of 1957.
A campaign fuelled by rising bus fares that saw our people united in the face of continued state repression and police brutality. A campaign that centred around a singular demand for a legislated minimum wage. The campaign touched a central nerve and pinpointed the cause of misery suffered by the majority of the people.
People walked miles from home to their workplaces. Those who were travelling from Alexandra had to walk more than 18 miles a day. The police harassed them. Despite all the harassment, people continued to walk in support of the boycott. It is within this context that the taxi sector emerged as an alternative mode of transport to the black people around Alexandra and other townships.
Ladies and Gentlemen
This taxi industry has had a rocky and strife-ridden history, characterised by violent confrontations between competing owners and shaped by exclusion from the formal economy.
But it is still the most commonly used form of public transport and so plays a critical role in the lives of the majority of commuters, particularly in poor black communities, the same masses that created the opportunity for it to established.
The sectoral determination that I am launching today seeks to contribute to this process of formalisation and will address some of the changing demands that the sector is and will be facing in the future. Very recently, the newspapers carried a story of a worker murdered because he asked his employer for his outstanding wages. This is not how labour disputes should be settled. This sectoral determination has been developed so that employers and workers know their obligations, their responsibilities and their rights.
The taxi industry in South Africa has the following defining features, which informed the standards in the sectoral determinations:
I. It is made up of approximately 127 000 minibus taxis (or ‘kombis’ as they are popularly known in South Africa) operating on fixed commuter corridors (long and short distance) and charging fares by local taxi associations. The fare system makes the sector quite distinct from the meter-fare taxi sector. The meter-fare sector is one in which passengers are transported on routes and distances as per request, and fares are based on the distance metering of the particular journey. Meter-fare taxis are sedans carrying a maximum of four passengers. Most kombi taxi officially carry 16 people - drivers plus 15 passengers.
II. Kombi taxis account for 65% of all public transport. Buses account for 21% and trains for 14%. The meter-fare taxi sector is not reflected in the statistics as meter-fare taxis carry occasional passengers and not daily commuters.
Chairperson, it is not only in within this context that my department started the process of investigating the need for regulating a minimum wage and conditions of employment in this industry. Our investigation has also been precipitated by the National Taxi Task Team report that clearly highlighted the need for formalisation of the employment relationship within the sector.
There is no way that a sector like this can be taken for granted, even if we all know that there are perception that the sector is disorganised and difficult to access in terms of engaging the role players. The process in establishing this sectoral determination was preceded by conducting information sharing sessions with the aim of sensitising the role players. You will agree with me that it would have been more complex if we ignored the engagement of role players.
Further, my department embarked on a process of extensive social dialogue that included public hearings where taxi associations made valuable inputs, bilateral meetings and working committees where we had the participation of SANTACO, TOP SIX, SATAWU and SANDATA and the National Department of Transport.
This process has indeed been informed by a very long and extensive process of discussions, the hallmark of what my department has been painstakingly established - social dialogue.
We engaged in the consultation process in order to remove any claims that may arise in the future by those who may claim not to have been consulted. With these consultations, we wanted to improve the level of inputs and discussions. I was personally involved in some of the consultations. Even though the process was very complex, difficult and challenging, it was open and very transparent.
My wish is to see the same partnership unfolding even during the implementation of the sectoral determination. My inspectors and other officials of the department are available to work together with the role players within the taxi sector.
This sectoral determination is further an embodiment of the flexibility that exists within our labour legislation. It is evidence of our willingness to listen to the industry in establishing conditions that cater not only for the needs of the sector but as well as taking into consideration the changing nature of the sector.
The revised re-capitalisation process not only had the effect that we had to change our proposals midstream but also provided an opportunity for us to address the changing environment as well as an opportunity to gauge whether the proposals that we made effectively addresses the needs of the sector.
We are indeed moving into an exciting era where there is not only synergy in government’s approach but as well a clear manifestation that this is a government in touch with the needs of the sector and of its people.
Let me now turn to the area where your interest lies and address some of the major areas of the sectoral determination. After careful consideration of the Report of the Employment Conditions Commission, which was informed by their understanding and studying of the sector, I hereby accept their recommendations, which are as follows:
Wages
Wages would be set at a national single level at a rate of R1350 for drivers and administrative staff. Other employees such as the rank marshall would be paid R1080 and other employees not elsewhere specified such as fare collectors and cleaners, would be paid R945. This will be in cases where employer and employee relationship exists. These wage level will be effective from 1 July 2005. This is to afford the employers enough time to effectively prepare themselves for the implementation of the wage levels.
I think it is of crucial importance to emphasise that, when my department sets minimum wages, there are certain consideration that guides this process. We set minimum wages and conditions of employment, as required by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. However, there were a number of areas that needed to be varied in order to make specific provision for the taxi sector taking into account the needs of the sector.
I know for a fact that there are employers who are paying more than these levels. Any attempt to cut down the employees wages as a result of this sectoral determination, could be declared to be unfair. Employers, who feel appropriate to pay over and above the minimum wages, will be allowed in terms of bargaining that can happen at any level between the employer and the employee.
Working Hours
Due to the nature of the taxi sector, it would be ideal to start with the regulation of working hours taking into account that, the sector is not the same as others where there is consistent times of operations. The sectoral determination makes adequate provision for the sector to conduct its business without unduly increasing the cost of making business. Ordinary hours of work within the sector has been set to 48 hours per week. However, because we are mindful of the possible impact, long hours of work would have on road safety and passenger safety, the new law makes it compulsory for drivers to rest at least 12 hours per day and 36 continuous hours per week.
A great deal of further changes to the basic conditions of employment has been made in order to meet the demands of the sector and this will be set out in the presentation that will follow.
These changes include overtime, allowances for those drivers that spend long hours on the road and are required to sleep over, and work on Sundays amongst others.
Ladies and Gentlemen in conclusion, I would like to thank staff of the Department of Labour, ECC, FES, CASE, Policy research Unit: University of Western Cape), SANTAGO, Top Six, SATAWU and SANTADA for making all the efforts in actualising the regulation of a minimum wages and conditions of employment in the taxi sector.
The history of this industry must never be forgotten. It must never be forgotten that this industry came as a result of the struggles of the masses. An opportunity for the establishment of the Taxi Industry in the Black Townships was created.
The transport structures of the old system were challenged and subsequently turn down as the only mode of transport. The people, the workers were freed from the burdens that weighed upon them. Many of our people might have thought that by reaching that stage meant being free from responsibilities. We now have the greatest responsibility on our shoulders. To own a taxi is a responsibility-responsibility to cater for the needs of the same masses that opened the opportunity for this industry. The responsibility to deferred and protect their lives. The responsibility to make sure that they arrive at their workplaces and their homes safely. The responsibility to be disciplined. Yes, discipline.
Discipline to abide by majority decisions. Discipline to respect the people. The masses. Discipline means following the guidelines of a government voted into power by the masses.
It means collectively discussing on fundamental problems, challenges and difficulties at every level of operations and work. Discipline means increasing worker participation to ensure better productivity. It means increasing worker participation through their organisations, in the management of this industry.
What we need now in this industry is the establishment of discipline, the principle of authority and responsibility.
Our democracy is a people’s democracy - “The people shall govern”. Therefore our responsibility must be to people. The time has come for all us to take full responsibility for or actions. There will come a time when the masses of our people will demand this of us. If in 1957 the masses of our people boycotted buses, what will stop them to do the same about any mode of transport that put burdens that weigh upon them. We are the children of that environment. It is the people that destroyed apartheid and changed it; they can still wipe out those bad habits from our consciousness.
This sectoral determination provides the taxi industry with another opportunity to rise to the occasions, as it did when the masses of our people were steadfast in their resolution in the fight against oppression.
When it innovated an alternative mode of transport and changed the face of public transport in South Africa. When our people needed transportation during our struggle against the Apartheid regime.
I have no doubt in my mind that the taxi industry will rise again and triumph in this effort. Let me end with the words of Che Guevara. “We have issued a challenge for everyone to meet, the challenge for all us to link arms in a single and unbroken chain, advancing as an unbroken and unconditionable wave. In this way we can arrive rapidly at the first stage of our journey and be able to say looking back at a past accomplishment. We will win “Venceremos”.
I thank you!
Enquiries:
Page Boikanyo
Cell: 082 809 3195
Email: page.boikanyo@labour.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Labour
28 April 2005
Source: Department of Labour (http://www.labour.gov.za)
Source: Department of Labour
Title: Mdladlana: Launch of Sectoral Determination for Taxi Sector
Speech given by the Minister of Labour, M Mdladlana, at the launch of the Taxi Sectoral Determination, African Window Conference Centre
The Chairperson
Comrades
Ladies and gentlemen
My distinguished guest from the employer and employee organisations
SANTACO, Top Six Taxi Management, SATAWU
It is my pleasure to welcome you to this a fundamental step in our government’s continued quest in formalising the minibus taxi industry - the launch of a sectoral determination for taxi drivers and other workers within the taxi sector.
The taxi industry is a sector that we need to be particularly proud of. Our people started it, our people have grown the sector and it is our people that came together in acknowledging the need for the sector to be formalised. It is also not a coincidence that we launch the sectoral determination today. Today is also the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. The concern for safety and health as well as adequate conditions of employment for the sector provided the impetus and the motivation to arrive at what we have today.
It is also not incidental that we launch this determination in Tshwane in Gauteng. The poignancy of the events in 1957 in Alexandria should not be forgotten lest we forget the roots of the sector. Its growth pains were felt in the heart of our struggle for democracy and change. We should never forget the “Asinamali” campaign of 1957.
A campaign fuelled by rising bus fares that saw our people united in the face of continued state repression and police brutality. A campaign that centred around a singular demand for a legislated minimum wage. The campaign touched a central nerve and pinpointed the cause of misery suffered by the majority of the people.
People walked miles from home to their workplaces. Those who were travelling from Alexandra had to walk more than 18 miles a day. The police harassed them. Despite all the harassment, people continued to walk in support of the boycott. It is within this context that the taxi sector emerged as an alternative mode of transport to the black people around Alexandra and other townships.
Ladies and Gentlemen
This taxi industry has had a rocky and strife-ridden history, characterised by violent confrontations between competing owners and shaped by exclusion from the formal economy.
But it is still the most commonly used form of public transport and so plays a critical role in the lives of the majority of commuters, particularly in poor black communities, the same masses that created the opportunity for it to established.
The sectoral determination that I am launching today seeks to contribute to this process of formalisation and will address some of the changing demands that the sector is and will be facing in the future. Very recently, the newspapers carried a story of a worker murdered because he asked his employer for his outstanding wages. This is not how labour disputes should be settled. This sectoral determination has been developed so that employers and workers know their obligations, their responsibilities and their rights.
The taxi industry in South Africa has the following defining features, which informed the standards in the sectoral determinations:
I. It is made up of approximately 127 000 minibus taxis (or ‘kombis’ as they are popularly known in South Africa) operating on fixed commuter corridors (long and short distance) and charging fares by local taxi associations. The fare system makes the sector quite distinct from the meter-fare taxi sector. The meter-fare sector is one in which passengers are transported on routes and distances as per request, and fares are based on the distance metering of the particular journey. Meter-fare taxis are sedans carrying a maximum of four passengers. Most kombi taxi officially carry 16 people - drivers plus 15 passengers.
II. Kombi taxis account for 65% of all public transport. Buses account for 21% and trains for 14%. The meter-fare taxi sector is not reflected in the statistics as meter-fare taxis carry occasional passengers and not daily commuters.
Chairperson, it is not only in within this context that my department started the process of investigating the need for regulating a minimum wage and conditions of employment in this industry. Our investigation has also been precipitated by the National Taxi Task Team report that clearly highlighted the need for formalisation of the employment relationship within the sector.
There is no way that a sector like this can be taken for granted, even if we all know that there are perception that the sector is disorganised and difficult to access in terms of engaging the role players. The process in establishing this sectoral determination was preceded by conducting information sharing sessions with the aim of sensitising the role players. You will agree with me that it would have been more complex if we ignored the engagement of role players.
Further, my department embarked on a process of extensive social dialogue that included public hearings where taxi associations made valuable inputs, bilateral meetings and working committees where we had the participation of SANTACO, TOP SIX, SATAWU and SANDATA and the National Department of Transport.
This process has indeed been informed by a very long and extensive process of discussions, the hallmark of what my department has been painstakingly established - social dialogue.
We engaged in the consultation process in order to remove any claims that may arise in the future by those who may claim not to have been consulted. With these consultations, we wanted to improve the level of inputs and discussions. I was personally involved in some of the consultations. Even though the process was very complex, difficult and challenging, it was open and very transparent.
My wish is to see the same partnership unfolding even during the implementation of the sectoral determination. My inspectors and other officials of the department are available to work together with the role players within the taxi sector.
This sectoral determination is further an embodiment of the flexibility that exists within our labour legislation. It is evidence of our willingness to listen to the industry in establishing conditions that cater not only for the needs of the sector but as well as taking into consideration the changing nature of the sector.
The revised re-capitalisation process not only had the effect that we had to change our proposals midstream but also provided an opportunity for us to address the changing environment as well as an opportunity to gauge whether the proposals that we made effectively addresses the needs of the sector.
We are indeed moving into an exciting era where there is not only synergy in government’s approach but as well a clear manifestation that this is a government in touch with the needs of the sector and of its people.
Let me now turn to the area where your interest lies and address some of the major areas of the sectoral determination. After careful consideration of the Report of the Employment Conditions Commission, which was informed by their understanding and studying of the sector, I hereby accept their recommendations, which are as follows:
Wages
Wages would be set at a national single level at a rate of R1350 for drivers and administrative staff. Other employees such as the rank marshall would be paid R1080 and other employees not elsewhere specified such as fare collectors and cleaners, would be paid R945. This will be in cases where employer and employee relationship exists. These wage level will be effective from 1 July 2005. This is to afford the employers enough time to effectively prepare themselves for the implementation of the wage levels.
I think it is of crucial importance to emphasise that, when my department sets minimum wages, there are certain consideration that guides this process. We set minimum wages and conditions of employment, as required by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. However, there were a number of areas that needed to be varied in order to make specific provision for the taxi sector taking into account the needs of the sector.
I know for a fact that there are employers who are paying more than these levels. Any attempt to cut down the employees wages as a result of this sectoral determination, could be declared to be unfair. Employers, who feel appropriate to pay over and above the minimum wages, will be allowed in terms of bargaining that can happen at any level between the employer and the employee.
Working Hours
Due to the nature of the taxi sector, it would be ideal to start with the regulation of working hours taking into account that, the sector is not the same as others where there is consistent times of operations. The sectoral determination makes adequate provision for the sector to conduct its business without unduly increasing the cost of making business. Ordinary hours of work within the sector has been set to 48 hours per week. However, because we are mindful of the possible impact, long hours of work would have on road safety and passenger safety, the new law makes it compulsory for drivers to rest at least 12 hours per day and 36 continuous hours per week.
A great deal of further changes to the basic conditions of employment has been made in order to meet the demands of the sector and this will be set out in the presentation that will follow.
These changes include overtime, allowances for those drivers that spend long hours on the road and are required to sleep over, and work on Sundays amongst others.
Ladies and Gentlemen in conclusion, I would like to thank staff of the Department of Labour, ECC, FES, CASE, Policy research Unit: University of Western Cape), SANTAGO, Top Six, SATAWU and SANTADA for making all the efforts in actualising the regulation of a minimum wages and conditions of employment in the taxi sector.
The history of this industry must never be forgotten. It must never be forgotten that this industry came as a result of the struggles of the masses. An opportunity for the establishment of the Taxi Industry in the Black Townships was created.
The transport structures of the old system were challenged and subsequently turn down as the only mode of transport. The people, the workers were freed from the burdens that weighed upon them. Many of our people might have thought that by reaching that stage meant being free from responsibilities. We now have the greatest responsibility on our shoulders. To own a taxi is a responsibility-responsibility to cater for the needs of the same masses that opened the opportunity for this industry. The responsibility to deferred and protect their lives. The responsibility to make sure that they arrive at their workplaces and their homes safely. The responsibility to be disciplined. Yes, discipline.
Discipline to abide by majority decisions. Discipline to respect the people. The masses. Discipline means following the guidelines of a government voted into power by the masses.
It means collectively discussing on fundamental problems, challenges and difficulties at every level of operations and work. Discipline means increasing worker participation to ensure better productivity. It means increasing worker participation through their organisations, in the management of this industry.
What we need now in this industry is the establishment of discipline, the principle of authority and responsibility.
Our democracy is a people’s democracy - “The people shall govern”. Therefore our responsibility must be to people. The time has come for all us to take full responsibility for or actions. There will come a time when the masses of our people will demand this of us. If in 1957 the masses of our people boycotted buses, what will stop them to do the same about any mode of transport that put burdens that weigh upon them. We are the children of that environment. It is the people that destroyed apartheid and changed it; they can still wipe out those bad habits from our consciousness.
This sectoral determination provides the taxi industry with another opportunity to rise to the occasions, as it did when the masses of our people were steadfast in their resolution in the fight against oppression.
When it innovated an alternative mode of transport and changed the face of public transport in South Africa. When our people needed transportation during our struggle against the Apartheid regime.
I have no doubt in my mind that the taxi industry will rise again and triumph in this effort. Let me end with the words of Che Guevara. “We have issued a challenge for everyone to meet, the challenge for all us to link arms in a single and unbroken chain, advancing as an unbroken and unconditionable wave. In this way we can arrive rapidly at the first stage of our journey and be able to say looking back at a past accomplishment. We will win “Venceremos”.
I thank you!
Enquiries:
Page Boikanyo
Cell: 082 809 3195
Email: page.boikanyo@labour.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Labour
28 April 2005
Source: Department of Labour (http://www.labour.gov.za)
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