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FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK
Dear fellow South African,
Every day, in all parts of the country, millions of our citizens use taxis, buses or trains to go to work, go to school, transport goods or go to centers where they can shop, visit clinics or obtain social support.
According to 2015 figures, around two-thirds of households that use public transport do so by minibus taxi. A quarter travel by bus and 10% by train.
In a country where the vast majority do not have access to private cars, the provision of efficient, reliable, safe and affordable public transport is essential to the daily lives of our people.
Unfortunately, public transportation continues to be fraught with challenges; some are the legacy of apartheid development, but many are contemporary and persistent.
Two events last week highlighted the reality that for too many citizens, the use of public transportation is dangerous and can even be deadly.
Last Wednesday, 16 people were killed when a minibus taxi collided with a truck between Melmoth and Ulundi in KwaZulu-Natal.
A day later, commuters had to flee for their lives on a busy road in Johannesburg when a passenger in a minibus taxi opened fire on the driver, killing him and causing the vehicle to lose control. Fortunately, none of the other passengers were injured.
Many of our people’s experiences with public transportation are not positive. Those who depend on trains have to deal with daily delays, outages and lengthy closures of essential lines. Furthermore, the railway infrastructure in most cities only covers the oldest parts of the cities and has not kept up with the development of new cities.
Unfit vehicles, unsafe driving, speeding, overloading and other practices are persistent problems in the taxi industry. Many people are victims of crime on trains, taxis, and buses.
Since many people live far from workplaces, transportation is very expensive for low-income households. A report from Statistics South Africa found that more than two-thirds of the lowest-income households spend more than 20% of their monthly household income on public transportation. The survey found that taxi transportation is the most expensive mode of public transportation, followed by trains and buses.
Since taxis are the main means of public transportation for people in all provinces, we are paying urgent attention to the problems of the industry.
This week, we are summoning the Lekgotla National Taxi to chart the course towards a more efficient sector. This platform brings together stakeholders from government, civil society and industry and builds on provincial makgotla that have been carried out in most provinces.
The lekgotla will seek common ground on existing business models, safety and compliance, broader economic empowerment of operators, and the issue of taxi subsidies. It will also look at how to end the conflict and violence that continues to plague the industry due to competition on the roads.
Most importantly, it must come up with a plan for a formalized industry that plays a significant role in mainstream economics and is effectively regulated.
The taxi industry can and should play an important role in the government’s ultimate goal of enhancing commuters’ daily experiences by establishing integrated networks of rapid transit services in subways, cities, towns and rural districts.
When public transportation is unsafe, unreliable, and expensive, it also affects economic activity. With roughly 4 in 10 workers using public transportation to get to their workplaces, these challenges have knock-on effects on productivity, labor relations, and business operations.
As part of the program to build a new economy, we are working with all stakeholders to improve the state of public transportation. This is necessary if we want to expand manufacturing, increase local production, stimulate small business activity and create more job opportunities.
We are aware that as households make decisions about where to live, where to work, and where to study based on access to transportation, businesses also make expansion and investment decisions based on workforce mobility.
Simply put, we cannot achieve the economic growth and recovery we aspire to if people cannot get to work on time and safely.
A well-functioning transportation system has the added benefit of alleviating highway congestion and reducing travel times, energy consumption, and air pollution.
That is why we are going to invest in transportation infrastructure systems that will transport people safely and in a way that will contribute to economic growth.
The Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan that I announced earlier this month recognizes that improving transportation infrastructure is essential for economic growth and expansion of industrial activity.
As part of our plan, we have embarked on projects to modernize and renovate commuter rail networks along with expanding road rehabilitation and maintenance programs.
Improved transportation infrastructure along with improved public transportation is a key driver of economic activity. Likewise, solving the challenges faced by a sector as important as the taxi industry is an important step towards transforming the public transport landscape.
A formalized, well managed and better regulated minibus taxi system is in the best interest of not only those who use taxis on a daily basis. It is also in the interest of the development and progress of the whole society.
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