Address at the Top Six Conference by Jeff Radebe, MP, Minister of Transport

Programme Director,
The Honourable President of the National Taxi Alliance (NTA), Mtambo,
Top Six Chairperson Sicelo Mabaso,
Top Six CEO Babu Maharaj,
National and Provincial Executives of Top Six,
Top Six Women's League and priests,
Distinguished guests,
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen

May I start by saying how pleased I am to be with you this evening. Attending any function of the taxi industry is rather like being at home.

In the Annual General Meeting of Top Six Management in 2005, I mentioned my delight at the operational strengths of the taxi industry, its flexibility and ability to adapt. And indeed the fact that black people involved in this industry have an eye for business opportunities. But I also mentioned that the greatest threat to the gains and strengths of the industry is the lack of unity and cooperation within the industry. This was true then, and it still is.

I am also conscious of the fact that over the years the taxi industry has undergone significant changes, some of which were very difficult - but highly fulfilling. I suppose on hindsight we can say what a journey at has been.

Surely, as we integrate our public transport through our public transport strategy and plan, let us not forget that the taxi industry has a special place at the centre of this integration. But our collective duty is to ensure that the taxi industry is not caught with its pants down - at the most critical moment. Let us ensure that we are honest and frank with our assessment of the industry. It can't be business as usual - not with the 2010 World Cup on our doorstep, not with the escalating number of passengers dying on our roads, not with the barbaric acts at Bree and Hendrick Potgieter Streets - it surely cannot be business as usual.

I need not convince you of these challenges. I'm too afraid to pose a question to this house regarding your readiness for 2010. The fact of the matter is- public transport for this country will not parachute from another planet but depends solely on how we master the art of 'commuter being the king,' as well as the regulation of the industry, but most importantly the recapitalisation of the fleet. - It's as simple as that.

Programme Director, it is very clear that safety within the taxi industry continues to be a bigger challenge. The ageing and unreliable taxi fleet continues to pose a serious threat to all of us - but not for too long. Honestly, we also cannot continue to lose well-deserved sleep over unnecessary destructive competition that continues to haunt the industry. While it is obvious that the deregulation of the transport sector in the 80s brought all these challenges, let us not use this reason as an excuse especially where things are within our immediate control.

It is against this background that the Taxi Recap programme has proven to be a major catalyst in transforming the taxi industry. I hope I'm not bragging when I say that through the Taxi Recap, we have scrapped more than 9 400 old taxis and subsequently paid out more than R480 million scrapping allowances to taxi operators. With five years to go, it seems to me the ageing taxi fleet will - sooner than later - be a thing of the past. With these figures, the debate has totally shifted from justifying what the Taxi Recap is, to taxi operators scrambling for the available scrapping dates especially those in possession of great grandfathers of the old taxi vehicles - if there is such a thing.

Distinguished guests, our phased scrapping approach based on the age profile of the vehicle was well thought-through and it is indeed paying dividend. I can assure you that vehicles making their way to scrapping facilities are those that have reached their retirement age and have depreciated to a point of little or no resale value - even the best bush mechanic will refuse to resuscitate any of them. But let us remember that the Taxi Recap is also about the introduction of safe and comfortable new taxi vehicles. Figures released by National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) indicate that taxi operators are recapitalising their vehicles as if it's going out of fashion. More than 2000 units are sold every month. These figures are pleasing.

Government has also heeded your call on the affordability of the new taxi vehicles. Working together with the industry, the banks and manufacturers, we have been able to develop a financial viability model that indicates that new taxi vehicles are indeed affordable. But it must be kept in mind that the affordability is to a large extent determined by such factors as competition, various products by financial institutions, and most importantly the ability of the industry to negotiate better prices by using its buying power.

The Taxi Recap has also presented us with an opportunity to regulate the industry. The approval of the operating licences by the Operating Licensing Boards (OLBs) is our lever to confront the realities of the destructive competition within the industry. Programme Director, I'm aware of the challenges faced by the OLBs in processing the applications for licenses - particularly those applications made during the Be Legal Campaign.

But in the same breath I want to commend the OLBs for having been able to approve more than 80 000 applications for operating licences, from the 114 000 applications being processed. Without a doubt, these licences are a cornerstone in ensuring the implementation of the route rationalisation process.

Programme Director, can I also take this opportunity as a commercial break on behalf of OLBs by encouraging the taxi operators who have not uplifted their licences to do so as a matter of urgency. As you can imagine, these licences are important particularly in dealing with the issue of route encroachment and regulation.

Distinguished guests, our journey to toughen our law enforcement capacity has already begun. I'm pleased to announce that we are at a brink of finalising a comprehensive law enforcement plan with the Road Traffic Management Corporation, particularly to encourage compliance but also to uproot the perpetrators of route encroachment within the taxi industry.

We take our duty to ensure that all public transport operators abide by the rules of the road very seriously - it can't be business as usual. This is a key driver of our regulation but we hope that taxi operators who take their business seriously do not require a nanny.

Paramount to our regulation process is still the crucial element of ownership and management of the taxi ranks. Municipalities are beginning to take their rightful place in providing the public transport infrastructure and facilities such as taxi ranks. We therefore call for your much-needed support to the municipalities. This will benefit not only the commuters but it will also create a comfortable working environment for taxi operators.

It is also becoming urgent and more critical for all of us to save the taxi industry from itself particularly where operators are still required to pay huge sums of money to access public transport facilities and routes. This practice is more or less similarly to having your cake and eating it. We do need to state categorically that freedom to operate within the taxi industry cannot be purchased through exorbitant joining fees. Action is required as a matter of urgency.

Programme Director, at face value the Taxi Recap appears to be about the safety and the regulation of the industry. But surely this initiative will also be judged on the basis of the financial freedom and sustainability it brings in locating the taxi industry at the centre of our public transport system. I'm pleased to announce that the Model Tender Document has finally been approved to pave way for the taxi industry to participate in the subsidized public transport services.

I encourage you to take this opportunity with both hands. I am confident that you have already begun to establish formations that would benefit your industry from this initiative. One of the essential features of our Public Transport Strategy (2007 to 2020) is the phased extension of the mode-based vehicle recapitalisation into Integrated Rapid Public Transport Networks. These networks comprise an integrated package of Rapid Rail and Bus Rapid Transit priority corridors, especially in major cities. This provides the taxi industry with an opportunity to get a stake in the operations of the networks in the cities and to graduate from taxi operations to public transport operations.

Last but not least, there is another piece of the jigsaw. The recent incidents of violence at the Bree and Hendrick Potgieter Streets and in other routes around the country are a major concern for government. This cannot be tolerated.

These barbaric acts have overshadowed the significant role played by the industry. More passengers and ordinary people become victims of taxi violence and start looking for alternative means of transport, which translate to a loss for the taxi industry.

The taxi industry needs to intensify its efforts in the democratisation of its sector. This way it will be well positioned to use the advantages of its unified voice to deal with the challenges going forward. Violence will not stand in the way of progress. I would like to urge the NTA to take up the courage of participation in the next elections for a unified taxi industry and also encourage South African National Taxi Association Council (Santaco) and the NTA to forge closer links that would benefit the industry in its totality.

I can think of no better words to end this speech than to say let us work together in transforming the taxi industry and ensure that perpetrators of violence are unable to take the flag from our mast. The question I pose to you this evening is - can you meet the scale of this challenge?

Thank you for your attention

Issued by: Ministry of Transport
13 September 2007