Taxi Recapitalisation Lurches Forward

Farrel — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 13:31:00 -0600

Finally! After delay after delay the Taxi Recapitalisation Program is finally moving forward, albeit slowly.

The target was to scrap 75% to 80% of the oldest vehicles on provincial databases – some 25-years-old or more – by 2010.

So by the time the world cup rolls around only 20%-25% of taxis will be death traps. And considering the criminal element in the taxi industry today here’s a recipe for fraud if ever there was one:

Under the mandatory scrapping programme, owners will receive R50,000 for each vehicle destroyed, which they are expected to invest in a new vehicle.

Despite taxis being one of the more inefficient modes of transport, government is determined to keep them around mainly I would guess because they historically have been one of the main areas of black entrepeneurship. Considering the dire need for improved public transport, even without the World Cup looming on the horizon, it is a shame that progress has not been faster.

One thing that will be needed to put in place as part of the recapitalisation project is a decent regulatory agency with strict licensing laws and harsh penalties for traffic offences. Otherwise the whole recapitalisation process will be a complete waste. Instead of having head on collisions with 15 seater taxis we’ll just have them with 30 seater ones.

Politics.za: Taxi Recapitalisation Lurches Forward

Taxi Recapitalisation Lurches Forward