TRANSPORT WOES
Santaco threatens to take 15,000 taxis off streets if Blue Dot pilot project is halted
Taxi organisation Santaco has threatened to take its 15,000 minibus taxis off Western Cape streets, leaving about two million commuters stranded, if the Western Cape government does not reconsider its decision to halt a successful pilot project.
The Western Cape’s Blue Dot pilot project, which incentivised taxi drivers to improve and adopt safer driving habits, will cease operations on 30 November because of a lack of funding.
This was revealed by the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) during a press briefing in Bellville, Cape Town, on Wednesday afternoon.
“This is a truly sad day for the minibus taxi industry in the Western Cape and for the millions of passengers in the province who rely on our services to get to work each day and to access education, services and other opportunities,” said Santaco Western Cape chairperson Mandla Hermanus.
“The minibus taxi industry is currently the backbone of public transport in the Western Cape. We transport over two million people every day and every effort should be made to support our industry to become better and safer, and to formalise our industry and improve the quality of service.”
In late 2020, the Western Cape government initiated the Blue Dot pilot project, the first initiative of its kind in South Africa.
Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations
Hailed as a game-changer, the project rewarded drivers by analysing the data from onboard trackers fitted to each participating vehicle, monitoring routes, and considering the feedback from passengers and other members of the public. WiFi on board allowed passengers to rate drivers and their service.
It was also seen as an example of how to formalise the minibus taxi industry in order for it to be subsidised by the government. Golden Arrow (Gabs) and MyCiTi bus services are subsidised, with Golden Arrow receiving about R1.1 billion in the 2022/23 financial year.
MyCiTi recently shut down routes after fuel price increases, which Hermanus said the taxi industry did not do despite not being subsidised.
“We take the knock and move on,” said Hermanus. “Even with the fuel hikes, we do not always increase fares yet Gabs is laying off staff, we heard, due to fuel increases.”
Of the 15,000 minibus taxis in the Western Cape, 800 participated in the project and eight regional companies were established, representing all eight regions of the province. These companies joined Umanyano Travel Services, the provincial company established by Santaco Western Cape during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stringent requirements
Hermanus said Santaco had met the stringent requirements set by the government for participation in Blue Dot, including tax compliance, vehicle branding, tracker installation, operator and driver training, professional driving permits, vehicle safety inspection and a minimum level of daily travel on licensed routes.
Santaco Western Cape chairperson Mandla Hermanus. (Photo: Velani Ludidi)
“Given the informal nature of our industry, this was a major achievement. And we worked tirelessly with the government to ensure that our services got better and safer. Speeding was reduced by 50% and harsh driving by 40% amongst participants, and passengers have rated the service positively via the innovative user feedback system, which is at the heart of Blue Dot.”
He said that in six months, they would make about R70-million from Blue Dot. In an industry widely known for reckless driving, lawlessness and violent conflict, Blue Dot is a rare success story.
Hermanus said they had hoped to build the newly established companies into flourishing, sustainable, empowered black-owned enterprises, and reshape the way the minibus taxi industry does business.
“The decision to bring Blue Dot to an end has fractured the partnership we have built with the government. Our role as a vital contributor to the public transport sector is not as firmly recognised as it should be. This decision, unfortunately, will result in the minibus industry and government being placed in opposite camps again.”
He threatened that Santaco would take its 15,000 minibus taxis off the streets, leaving about two million commuters stranded, if the Western Cape government does not reconsider its decision.
Government support needed
The Western Cape MEC for mobility, Daylin Mitchell, said the taxi industry played a critical role in the economy of the Western Cape and the lives of its citizens, but the national government needed to take it over.
“We have shown that the Blue Dot pilot project works. We need the support of the national government to fund the continuation and expansion of this powerful pilot programme. Funding this programme is the mandate of the national department.
“Where rail has almost collapsed in South Africa, this programme shows how we can make a rapid intervention to improve the public transport industry. [It] shows how you can change the game.”
He said the continuation of Blue Dot remained his top priority and in the coming weeks he would engage with his counterparts at local, provincial and national government.
“We have invested R215-million to prove that this pilot works and it is now up to the national government to support us and put resources into the minibus taxi industry.” DM
Become an Insider
Please do it! 15000 fewer death traps and drivers who think the sun shines out their backsides on the roads!
Sounds like a good idea. But the question is how the minibus industry became the backbone of public transport. Thete used to be buses and trains: corruption and criminality have crippled these services all to the benefit of the taxis. Coincidence?
Virginia pls go and read the history of your country. Black people were put far outside the City so that they spent 40% of their income on public transport hence taxis. The Apartheid government didn’t care about formalizing the taxi industry. Busses and trains were merely to carry a few migrants workers to and from the labour camps Townships.
I agree about apartheid displacing people to places far from work, and yes the microbuses did supplement the trains and buses in the 80s. But even then taxis were often owned by cops and and other shady people: drivers and passengers have been exploited for decades. I have much sympathy, as I used to use these taxis when I worked in Soweto, and saw the long hours drivers worked for very little. The taxi bosses are immune to SARS, labour law and road safety. I would have hoped that 28 years on, people would have better, cheaper and more comfortable transport, and not be hostage to a thuggish taxi industry. Why people from these outlying areas were not able to move closer to the city is a political can of worms for another day.
Yes let’s use the old washed out rhetoric of blame everything on Apartheid….. What about in places like London, NY, Tokyo etc where they have underground tubes etc? This country is crippled by its reliance of fuel. Food prices would be a shit load lower if it wasn’t that they had to be transported by truck for argument sake but hey, let’s steal all the cables and tracks and loose money on buying trains that can’t work on our tracks coz that’s what apartheid taught us aswell right???
The need for national government backing is obvious.. But given that government has been unable to provide sustainable public transport since Zuma corruption became the order of the day, the likelihood of this great project being supported is minimal…
Has the DA a majority there ??
Yes
Do the DA control the W/Cape
Yes
This has merely been a money-making for the blue-dot drivers who, for the most part, drive as badly, dangerously and selfishly as they ever did. Illegal right turns at traffic lights. Blocking junctions, driving straight on front left-hand turn lanes. Forcing their way into traffic lines and weaving from lane to lane to gain a millimetre of space and a nano-second of time. The project has achieved nothing. There was an improvement for about two weeks, then the drivers started pulling off the branding so that you see they’re blue dot but no vehicle number or feedback contact numbers. As usual, as trustworthy as far as they can be thrown. Take the taxis off the road. It’ll last a couple of days only before they run out of money. It’ s just an impotent threat.
So, they want to be compensated for abiding by the law, providing a safe service and keeping their customers happy? This essentially tells the South African story.