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- The Urban Mobility Summit in Cape Town commenced with a strong focus on addressing issues within the taxi industry and exploring the feasibility of transferring railway functions to municipalities.
- Much attention was given to the taxi industry following an eight-day stayaway by taxi bosses in August over vehicle impoundments.
- Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the City would continue to push for the devolution of the railway system.
The start of the Urban Mobility Summit in Cape Town brought issues plaguing the taxi industry and the feasibility of devolving the railway system to metros strongly into focus.
The summit, which is set down for two days, is expected to cover challenges that are of local and national public concern and interest.
They include the devolution of the passenger rail function to the City of Cape Town, the formalisation of the minibus taxi industry, and the impact of extortion, intimidation, and crime on the City's efforts to deliver construction projects in hotspot areas.
On Tuesday, the taxi industry came into sharp focus.
This after taxi bosses staged an eight-day stayaway in August after a wave of taxi impoundments.
Under the topic "formalising and modernising the minibus-taxi industry", SA National Taxi Council chairperson Mandla Hermanus said the current model and conditions the industry was using was not conducive anymore.
Mandla Hermanus, SANTACO’s provincial leader in the Western Cape:‘The challenge with the business model that we use, and this is the model that what we have inherited, is that we operate as 15 000 individual businesses.'#UrbanMobilitySummitCT pic.twitter.com/xKEaeqCUMf
— City of Cape Town (@CityofCT) October 3, 2023
"There is a challenge with the business model that we currently use, but it is what we have inherited because we operate as 15 000 individual businesses, and it's led to a situation where drivers are competing with one another.
"Because this is a cash-based service, the drivers determine the takings," he added.
Hermanus said the cash-based service had led to a safety issue for drivers.
"Lives are compromised; driver behaviour is informed by the need to make as much money as possible."
He added the industry must be modernised to safeguard drivers and integrate it.
"We believe if we can remove cash from drivers, it would take us a long way, and it talks to integration so that people don't need to carry cash."
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Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, in his opening remarks at the summit, said there was a need for reform in the taxi industry.
"There is a need for root and branch reform for the taxi industry in this country.
"It's concerning to me that drivers are not protected and not paid a basic living wage and work long hours and compromise the safety of themselves and their passengers."
Cape Town Mayor @geordinhl: ‘It’s 18 months since National Government took the decision to devolve passenger rail. We do not want to be in this position 18 months later, we want to deliver on a 5 to 7 year programme.’#UrbanMobilitySummitCT pic.twitter.com/M4xEmYkVbv
— City of Cape Town (@CityofCT) October 3, 2023
Hill-Lewis added the City would continue to push for the devolution of the railway system.
"We don't want devolution for the sake of it; we understand that the need for private capital will be essential for the successful management of this infrastructure."
He said the City was still in the process of lodging an intergovernmental dispute over the rail issue.
