The Democratic Alliance welcomes the long-overdue investigation into road transport announced by the Competition Commission.

The transport industry is beset by corruption, violence and even murder.

As far as busses go they still operate on outdated, apartheid-style routes and subsidies and are characterised by un-roadworthy, unreliable vehicles.

The taxi industry, a vital source of transport for many thousands of commuters, is tainted from some corrupt owners through the drivers and loaders, to the very Departments of Transport set up to regulate them.

The ongoing Uber versus the metered taxi services battle caught regulators by surprise and there is no uniformity in how various provinces have dealt with the new app-based service.

I wish the Commission every success in dealing with these problems which have stumped all previous ministers of transport, albeit that they were poorly equipped to tackle the problems their ministries faced.

I would suggest that the Commission spends some time reading the multiparty report of the commission of inquiry into taxi violence as adopted by the GPL last year to gain insight into the complex issues they face.

The DA will support any effort to bring peace and transparency to a rotten industry.

 

Issued by DA