Durban - The eThekwini Municipality is on a collision course with the powerful taxi industry over its new public transport by-law which aims to professionalise public transport in the city by cracking down on lawlessness.
Despite city documents showing that eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA) officials held a public participation process with the transport industry, Bafana Mhlongo, chairman of the KZN Taxi Alliance, said they were not part of it.
He said they would oppose any by-law they were not informed about.
Under the new by-law, public transport operators face fines of up to R20 000 or one year imprisonment if they are found to have transgressed a raft of new laws that include picking up or dropping off passengers in undemarcated areas, not displaying tariff fares on their windows, washing their vehicles outside of wash bays and intimidating passengers.
The new by-laws were approved by the city’s executive committee this week and were expected to be passed by full council on Wednesday. After being adopted by the council, they will come into effect six months from the date of publication in the Provincial Gazette.
So what are these by-laws?
The new by-laws, in addition to clamping down on lawless taxi drivers stopping anywhere to pick up and drop off passengers, also target unroadworthy vehicles and how taxi drivers and conductors treat passengers.
Among the changes is that all public transport vehicles must display the tariff of fares, the number of passengers the vehicle is permitted to carry, and the registration of the vehicle on the left window.
Conductors must wear reflective bibs or jackets that display an identification card, and no person will be allowed on to public transport with an animal other than a guide dog.
In addition, drivers would no longer be allowed to smoke in the vehicles, play offensive or loud music, use obscene language or interfere with the “comfort of a passenger”.
“Don’t interfere with us”
Mhlongo asked: “How can they tell us, for example, that we must display how much we charge people? That is nonsensical. We will never accept any by-laws that interfere with our business.
“I don’t know about any by-laws. We have not been canvassed properly before they took this decision and we will not accept it. The city cannot just wake up one morning and decide they are going to do this. We will never accept this.”
Three months ago, operators from the KZN Taxi Alliance went on the rampage and brought the Durban CBD to a standstill after metro police impounded 200 taxis that did not have proper permits.
One person was killed and several others injured in the protests.
Bheki Mbambo, chairman of the SA National Taxi Association, said they had numerous workshops and meetings with the ETA, and he was not sure if the new by-laws were properly workshopped with them.
“It is very important to educate us about these things because if they do not, there will be problems. When we started this industry, nobody cared about us and now that we have grown there is a focus on us.
“We want to be fully part of South Africa and we want to respect the laws, but they must explain and teach our drivers and conductors.
“Because if they do not and things go bad, we are called hooligans and that is not the case,” he said.
Questions over animals, stopping points
DA caucus leader, Zwakele Mncwango, said he foresaw problems with some aspects of the by-laws, such as the transportation of animals.
“What happens if a granny wants to buy a (live) chicken and take it home? Or a relative gives you a cat and you want to take it with you in a taxi?”
His colleague, Heinz De Boer, agreed. He said the by-laws could create conflict with the industry, especially with regard to only stopping in designated areas.
He said it was unfair to penalise the taxi industry if there were no designated areas for them to stop.
City manager, S’bu Sithole, said the city would enforce the by-laws only after six months, so it gave them time to build or create the infrastructure to allow them to implement the by-laws.
Head of the eThekwini Municipality legal services unit, Nokhana Moerane, said the six-month period would also allow for metro police to be trained in enforcing the new laws.
She said that if the city could not build the infrastructure or if there were issues with the taxi industry regarding some aspects of the law, there were provisions to for certain exemptions.
Metered taxis
The by-laws have made provisions for metered taxis and include the requirements to operate.
This includes the meter being fitted inside the taxi to ensure the recorded fare is plainly visible at all times to the passenger.
Faye Freedman, spokeswoman for SA Metered Taxi Association, said they were informed about the new by-laws and had no problem with them.
WHAT THE TAXI DRIVERS SAY
There are mixed feelings about new by-laws aimed at tightening control of public transport in the city.
Philani Ngwenya, 54, a rank manager at Inanda taxi rank in ML Sultan (Centenary) Road in central Durban, for the past 15 years, welcomed the new by-laws, saying the city was right to prohibit vehicles without permits, such as private cars that come to drop off passengers, from entering taxi ranks because they interfered with operations, but, he added, the city needed to provide a convenient demarcated area where broken-down taxis could be repaired.
“We cannot hire a breakdown vehicle to tow a taxi all the way to Inanda just to fix disc brakes or electrical wiring. That is something we can do here at the rank,” Ngwenya said.
He was in favour of conductors being made to wear bibs as passengers would then be able to identify rude conductors.
Drivers at the Inanda rank in Market and ML Sultan roads said they no longer washed taxis there, as they used the old Inanda rank at the Centenary bus station.
Sandile Ndlela, 40, a taxi driver from KwaMashu, who has worked the Inanda route for the past four years, said if the city mandated its police to issue fines, they could also help the taxi drivers. He added that a “taxis only” lane was needed in the city, similar to the red public transport lane on the N3 between Tollgate and Spaghetti Junction.
“Stopping at traffic lights to drop off or pick up passengers is wrong, because other motorists’ right of way is impeded. So the municipality would do well to install taxi stops where passengers could be dropped off and picked up.”
Meanwhile, taxi driver, Sizwe Makhaye, who works the Inanda route, said banning passengers from entering a taxi or rank with any animal except a guide dog was unreasonable.
He said commuters often boarded taxis with fowls, sometimes for the pot or traditional purposes, which should be legal, but said drivers would never allow animals such as goats and dogs on board.
He said the by-law demanding all taxis displayed signs indicating the fare was unnecessary, as people quickly came to know the fares.
Daily News