MEDIA STATEMENT

NONGOMA TAXI OPERATORS SMOKE PEACE PIPE

Intervention by KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport Mr. S’bu Ndebele resulted in the signing of a peace agreement between the warring factions within the Nongoma Taxi Association in northern KZN today.

The long-running feud between the minibus taxi operators in the area has resulted in many lives being lost. While the situation is volatile in the area because of the elections, the mood at the taxi rank was cordial today where the peace agreement was signed.

Leaders of the taxi associations Mangisi Buthelezi, Sputla Mpungose and Nkalankala Zungu signed the peace agreement in full view of hundreds of people who came to witness the signing ceremony. Ndebele congratulated the members of the association saying that continued conflicts in the area would stifle the development of Nongoma. "Nongoma, by virtue of being in the heart of KwaZulu-Natal was in a better position to be the gateway for Johannesburg, Durban, Richards bay and Mpangeni. However, incidents of taxi violence in the area were fuelled by the fact that the warring factions belonged to different tribal authorities and that local politicians from the area did little to promote peace. Peace in the taxi industry will be a major contributory factor towards peace in the province" Ndebele said.

Since Ndebele took over as MEC for Transport in 1994 he has spearheaded a number of initiatives which sought to regulate and bring about peace in the taxi industry. In 1998 the department appointed a provincial taxi registrar to register taxi associations, members, vehicles and their routes. This process resulted in 252 taxi associations being registered. In 2002 the department established the Public Transport Enforcement Unit (PTEU) which assisted in terms of inspecting and verifying the vehicles and documents of operators through the clean up process.

All these initiatives have resulted in the taxi industry in KZN being a professionally and efficiently run business. With the business assistance the department provides, various taxi associations have formed co-operatives which have been instrumental in securing contracts for operators both in public and private enterprises.

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