SPEECH DELIVERED BY KWAZULU-NATAL MEC FOR TRANSPORT, MR S'BU NDEBELE AT THE TAXI CONSTITUTION DRAFTING CONFERENCE

14 August 2001

Dr Dean Farisani
Mr Nathi Kheswa
Mr Mpho Mashinini
Mr K T Moufhe
Mr S Mabaso
Mr D Ntuli
Mr G Ferror
Mr A Mlalazi
Mr R Mutsi
Mr M J Msiza
Mr M M Somtshantsha
Mr V C Mshiywa
Mr L G Plaatjies
Mr P Taaibosch
Mr C B Ngiba
Members of the Regional and Provincial Councils
Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa and other government officials
Members of the media
Ladies and Gentlemen,

A very good morning to you all and once again welcome to this very important meeting which is considered a milestone in the history of the taxi industry.

Over the past five years, we as government, together with the leadership of the taxi industry in the province of KwaZulu-Natal have been involved in a process of stabilising and transforming this industry into a well-run, profitable and regulated taxi industry.

We have made major breakthroughs through this mutually beneficial partnership. I must admit that it was a tough challenge at times, but we are proud to say that we have reached a stage of consolidating the many years of hard work we have put in.

I am proud to report at this stage that the regulatory framework is in place, an integrated training and development programme has been designed for implementation, and we have been able to put in place conflict resolution structures.

These initiatives have created a proper framework for successful economic empowerment in the taxi industry. In general, we have achieved the objectives we had set for ourselves and whatever problems people might experience, are minor compared to the strides we have made. We are now ready to move to the next phase, which is economic development.

Today, I would like to briefly deal with the following three issues, which are imperative in ensuring the completion of the consolidation phase.

1. BE LEGAL CAMPAIGN

We decided as Ministers of Transport that in order to advance the taxi industry to economic prosperity, it was important that the industry be formalised. This process involved the legalisation of all illegal taxi operators. The "BE LEGAL CAMPAIGN" was conceived to fast track the legalisation of illegal operators.

We have a total of approximately 9 000 illegal operators in this province which need to go through the legalisation process. We have agreed with our Road Transportation Board that the fast tracking of this process must be completed by the end of September 2001. As of yesterday, 1 651 permits have already been processed by the Board.

At the end of this month almost 4 500 permits are expected to be processed. We believe that we will complete this process and achieve our targets within the stipulated time frames. We know how important this is to you as taxi operators and at the end of the day, such a legal environment will also empower law enforcement agencies to implement a province-wide enforcement programme to protect you from pirates and illegal operators.

Over the next two months, the Road Transportation Board will be meeting your associations together with your Regional Councils to iron out whatever information gaps there are in your registration database and to ensure that all deserving taxi operators are legalised.

2. ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

It has always been argued that at the core of the problems in the taxi industry is economic disempowerment. The key issues here are dwindling profit margins, non-existent legal business structures and negative relationships with financial institutions and other suppliers.

Our view as government is that the national recapitalisation programme provides a proper framework for the empowerment of the taxi industry. We would like the industry to positively engage with this programme to ensure that it addresses, in a practical way, the economic challenges that the industry is faced with.

We have created structures in the province, such as the co-operatives and UMTHOMBO Investment Company. We have always understood that this will be a complex and difficult process, which cannot take place overnight. It is important that we state that UMTHOMBO and the co-operatives are still part of government's programme. The revitalisation of these structures is integral to the implementation of the economic development strategy through the recapitalisation programme.

These co-operatives will be important vehicles for the distribution of vehicles, the provision of financial solutions and other critical components. We, together with the KZN Taxi Council, therefore have to jointly design an implementation programme for the recapitalisation of the taxi industry in the province.

We as a provincial department are looking seriously at the unequal distribution of government resources between the taxi industry and other modes of transport. We are investigating the possibilities of including the taxi industry in the subsidy programme. The different ways of doing this, include:

• Assisting taxi operators to buy shares into subsidised bus operations; and
• Designing subsidy contracts so that certain subsidised routes could be provided by mini-bus operations through the 18 and 35 seaters.

3. CONFLICT RESOLUTION

We have made major strides in containing conflict situations in the province. We are proud to announce that the long distance conflict in the province has been successfully resolved. We are not prepared to allow any rogue elements that are trying to scuttle this, to succeed. We would like to encourage everyone to work within the provisions of the agreement. The enforcement agencies must assist us in removing the disruptive elements that are trying to work against this peace agreement.

The provincial taxi council needs to rise to the challenge of dealing with conflicts once and for all within the taxi industry. It is our view that the mandate that you have been given as the new leadership puts you in a better position to assist in leading the industry out of the violent situation, into a peaceful and transformed industry.

The democratisation process that has been completed in the province and what this conference is all about is a major milestone towards a peaceful and prosperous taxi industry.

4. NATIONAL PROCESSES

This first consultative provincial conference is about you determining your future at a national level. You have already given your mandate to the new democratically elected provincial leadership. You are gathered here today to prepare for a national conference, which will elect a national leadership capable of engaging the private sector and government at national level on the following issues:

• Completion of the formalisation process;
• Economic development strategy; and
• Business diversification.

On economic development, a new leadership and partnership with government will have to fast track the implementation of the national recapitalisation programme. It is important that leadership, which derives its mandate from the ordinary operators, drives such a process. We hope that we would be ready to implement the recapitalisation programme at the beginning of next year after all consultative processes and implementation plans have been finalised.

• There are three legs to the economic empowerment of the taxi industry.
• The national recapitalisation programme;
• Review of the subsidy system to accommodate the taxi industry; and

Diversification to other transport-related sectors such as freight, rail, etc.
The national and provincial taxi councils will have to provide us with their thoughts on these matters which will then be integrated as part of an overall economic strategy for the taxi industry.

In conclusion, I wish to urge you to consider this gathering and the national conference to be held next month as very important to chart the way forward for the taxi industry. A constructive engagement amongst you today is going to help the process.

 

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