Mowbray Town Hall, 22 August 1999
INTRODUCTION
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
It is indeed heartening to see that so many people in our community, particularly in the Western Cape, are organising themselves in support of government programmes in dealing head-on with crime. It is through these initiatives that we are able to organise and support each other to move collectively as a nation towards eradicating this problem.
The levels of crime in our country are still unacceptably high. This state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue. As government we remain committed in ensuring that crime is rotted out of our society and we need the society to play a meaningful role in this regard. Your presence here gives me confidence that in partnership we recognise that it is our moral obligation as well as our social responsibility to ensure that these levels are brought down.
I have been asked to speak about the on-going taxi conflicts and what can be done to assist in working towards a long-term solution to this problem. But before I speak about taxi conflicts, which is also a big problem in our country because normally these conflicts result in violence and subsequent loss of life, I wish to highlight one or two issues which are important to all of us.
Our South African history remains important to us. Where we come from certainly shapes and informs our vision. The apartheid system denied millions of our people access to basic social needs. The human rights and dignity of our people were not respected. People were made to feel inferior and worthless. The policies of apartheid drove the poorest of the poor away from job opportunities and access to recreational centres.
We all know what apartheid did to our society. We now have a challenge of building a caring society where we put human beings first. This is one thing that the history of colonialism and apartheid always made impossible. Respect, cohesion, tolerance and solidarity. Our history has been the one of domination, division and inequality. All these have left us with the terrible legacy of a culture of violence and intolerance.
We have to change things around. From a transport perspective, the situation was unbearable. People were forced by the system to access their places of employment during the early hours of the morning and return back late to their respective homes as they had long distances to travel. Their safety and security, their welfare during these ungodly hours was at risk. This also posed another risk to the children that they were living behind at these hours exposing them to more dangerous situations.
As our people travelled during these hours, our streets had no lights, taxi ranks, bus depots and rail stations were very far from our homes and this increased the risk. People had to travel between five and ten kilometres to access these stations.
In the process the destruction of family values due to these conditions were the order of the day. I'm painting these hardships from a transport perspective so that we all understand where we come from.
Turning to the taxi problems... The taxi industry is a critical pillar of the South African public transport system and our economy as a whole. More than 60% of the people using public transport rely on taxis to access their places of employment, commercial centres and social services. This is because it remains the most accessible, reliable and cost effective mode available to the customers without requiring or receiving state subsidy. Taxis also provide a strong opportunity for small enterprise development for more than 65 000 taxi operators. And through this, millions of families rely on this industry for survival.
We have more than 126 870 taxis on our roads. This fleet is not regulated. Plans to regulate and formalise the taxi industry are high on my Department's agenda. Progress in this regard is very encouraging. However, there are difference within the industry on how this process should be taken forward. These differences remain healthy as long as we confine them within the proper structures and channels available and created by the industry.
Taxi violence should not be promoted. It is my intention to ensure that the industry is properly regulated and operates within the scope of the law. There are many good things that the industry is doing. But like the saying goes that one falling tree makes more noise than millions that are growing. Often we hear and read about the violence than the employment opportunities associated with taxi, their contribution towards economic growth and so on and so forth.
The conflicts, which used to plunge our country, are at a decline, but still unacceptable. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done. I call upon you to contribute progressively and make a difference.
Thank you.