I am concerned a letter from David Lazarus ("Taxis are death traps", Cape Times, August 23), will go unanswered and he will never find out the answers to his statements and assumptions.
Mr Lazarus, allow me to speak for the “unruly and law-avoiding sector”, as you refer to the minibus taxi industry.
I write this response in the interest of collaboration and with the intent of finding solutions, and not with malice, nor attempting to excuse the minibus taxi industry.
Believe it or not, we have the same concerns and I have raised the same questions, but from the other side of the fence.
I am a minibus taxi owner and a taxi driver, so your concerns are a hit to the gut, as with the several daily comments I receive regarding this industry. It’s all true, always has been for the past 20 years.
The hooting, the vulgarity, the violence, all of it. Why hasn’t it stopped? You have to go beyond the behaviour, Mr Lazarus, you are only looking at the symptom to the problem. You need to delve into the politics, the history and, moreover, the economics of the problem.
In what progressive society would you have a 200 000-strong fleet of vehicles, employing more than 600 000 people, transporting in excess of 15million passengers a day and not have a plan in place? Surely you can understand that there is something more to the excuse that they are out of control and unlawful.
How do you explain a government that is well aware that the taxi industry is the absolute reason why employees arrive at work every day and still allows the mayhem you describe? You are correct, David Lazarus, “all they need to do is maintain their vehicles and drive them with regard to others” - to serve, is that not correct, sir?
Because that is all they do now serve and not grow as businesses or entrepreneurs or contribute to the economy, but simply go from point A to point B?
You need to recognise that every person wants to grow and when that growth is stifled, you will have those individuals who will colour outside the line. You need to ask the right questions if you are going to get answers.
The government is not going to give you that answers easily, or if at all. The plan was on the table to bring the “scourge of misbehaving minibus taxi drivers” into a new era of commuter-centric, law-abiding public transport operators, more than 20 years ago.
Should you not be asking why this never happened?
I whole-heartedly agree that the situation is getting worse by the day, which is why I committed myself to almost 50 years of bringing solutions to government and the private sector.
You can ask the question why it failed or come to the realisation that perhaps it was never meant to work.
The minibus taxi industry does not need funding to fix the broken system, it requires access. Access, Mr Lazarus, puts every taxi driver into an ecosystem that immediately stops any vehicle from chasing down streets, weaving through traffic and failing your vision of a sound public transport system. Access takes any taxi driver out of the archaic taxi association model and puts them into an ownership model.
Access allows commuters to step into a taxi, get to work safe and sound and to travel back home with another minibus taxi that delivers the same level of efficient and reliable service, free of accidents, violence and mismanagement.
The access I refer to, Mr Lazarus, does not cost money, it’s not a plea for funding, nor an apology for not getting it right.
You have to ask the right questions, Mr Lazarus. What happens when the National Land Transport Act (2009) actually serves everybody equally?
What happens when the taxi industry, like any other fleet operation all over the world, can act independently, self-regulate and as you have indicated, be accountable and considerate public transport operators? Let me tell you, they will thrive. So, why does it not happen?
The shackles imposed on this industry through legislation, absolutely poor enforcement and a clueless public transport strategy has put us in this position - not the wayward taxi driver or taxi owner.
What you see today is merely the symptom of a diseased system. The taxi owner or driver does not make the rules or enforce the rules. That is a role played by government and law enforcement. Put an archaic system in place and you will quickly find truth in the implementation.
The real problem is one of politics and economics. I am done with the politics and have already spent far too much time explaining the manipulation and divisive tactics used to position this industry as you find it now.
The real win-win solution for commuter and road user, is clearly apparent in the ownership model that sees taxi drivers, commuters and taxi owners transform into shareholders within the taxi ecosystem.
Unfortunately, Mr Lazarus, that plan was kicked out of existence because of the “real” transformation it will bring to participants in this industry.
Transformation is just fine when we are talking about taxi drivers participating in the sale of chips, chocolates, peanuts and airtime; but when we talk of the move to fuel depot, tyre and exhaust distribution and community-based financial services, the shudder goes down the spine of all who currently benefit from the taxi industry today.
It’s strange you haven’t addressed your letter to the private sector or pointed in the direction of all the financiers, insurers, dealerships or even those who issued permits for vehicles and routes to all those “illegal operators”.
I would love to tackle the issue of misbehaving taxi drivers with you and anyone else, Mr Lazarus, but are you prepared to tackle the issue of access to economic transformation with me?
You obviously have a passion for road safety, as do I, but let’s level the playing field and agree that we need to find the root of the problem, otherwise it will just be you and I tossing the political football to each other.
The worst-case scenario is that we clean up the streets, the best-case scenario is that we create a number of black industrialists born out of the dusty streets of Soweto and the Cape Flats. Someone needs to do the real work, Mr Lazarus.
The City of Cape Town has its own agenda that unfortunately does not recognise the largest road-based public transport operator as a front runner for the biggest transformation plan for community upliftment and job creation.
Unfortunately, the “inclusive city and the opportunity city” has very little to say about a transformation agenda on the minibus taxi industry. The win-lose strategy that is the Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan for Cape Town moves ahead irrespective of a cohesive voice by the minibus taxi industry, Mr Lazarus.
To challenge your initial question, a study was indeed done by Dr Thinus Booysen (Stellenbosch University), and the findings of these studies concluded: “Minibus taxis make up around 5% of all vehicles on the road and are involved in 8% of accidents, leading to less than 5% of road fatalities.”
With the truth exposed, do you want to continue with statements that address the symptoms to your problem, or do you really want to knuckle down and get to the heart of the issue?
Nagel is the founder of Taxinomics, an independent organisation, driving economic inclusion for minibus taxi industry participants. He has more than 48 years experience and leadership in the minibus taxi industry