Durban – The National Department of Transport has dismissed claims that the Taxi Relief Fund (TRF) is a scam and urged taxi operators to register for and collect their relief funds.
The department in a statement on Sunday said that on March 30, 2021, the government issued the first directive for the provision of relief for taxi operators.
This was because the taxi industry bore the brunt of measures meant to restrict gatherings and general mobility in order to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It said the TRF, launched in January 2022 in Gauteng, set aside funds to mitigate the negative impact suffered by taxi operators due to the national lockdown imposed in March 2020 to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a follow-up, and in order to speed up beneficiary registration to receive such relief funds, on March 2 this year, government issued, again in terms of regulation 4(7) of the Regulations made under section 27(2) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No 57 of 2002), a directive on the taxi relief fund.
“It is against this backdrop that the National Department of Transport has learned with concern, assertions doing the rounds that the Taxi Relief Fund (TRF) is a scam and that eligible and qualifying taxi operators are being discouraged from applying for it.
“The department wishes to place it on record that these assertions and reports are not only misinformed, but they are also misleading and ill-intended and thus calls upon those making such assertions to desist from doing so.”
The department said the government allocated a once-off ex-gratia fund amount of R1 135 billion for the operators of minibus taxis and e-hailing services with valid operating licences as of March 2020.
It added that the National Empowerment Fund (NEF), an implementing agency tasked with the disbursement of the fund on behalf of the department, has been assisting taxi operators with the process of claiming their relief funds.
The taxi operators have been receiving assistance for funding through the TRF call centre and also through physical contact with the NEF employees.
It said it along with NEF they have already visited six provinces - Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State, North West and Western Cape - to assist the taxi operators to claim their fund. KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape soon to be visited.
The department said taxi operators have until March 31, 2023 to apply for the relief fund. However, operators should apply early.
“The department remains optimistic that the fund will help the industry to remain operational beyond the Covid-19 pandemic. The role of the taxi industry, responsible for almost 80% of the transportation of workers and millions of travel trips per year in the country’s economy, cannot be overemphasised.”