A growing number of South Africans are refusing to use minibus taxis because of the poor levels of service and other problems associated with the industry, according to a report by Daily Investor.
A countrywide transport survey found that the number of people who have made the switch from taxis to other forms of transport has nearly doubled in seven years, going from 18.1% of respondents questioned in 2013 to 33.9% of respondents in 2020.
Growing distrust
Every province in South Africa has seen a noticeable uptick in commuters refusing to take taxis, but the trend is most prevalent in the Western Cape, as you can see in the table below:
| Province | % of commuters refusing to take taxis in 2013 | % of commuters refusing to take taxis in 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Western Cape | 22% | 40% |
| Gauteng | 17% | 37% |
| Eastern Cape | 14% | 33% |
| Kwa-Zulu Natal | 20% | 33% |
| Free State | 17% | 32% |
| Limpopo | 23% | 32% |
| Mpumalanga | 15% | 28% |
| North-West Province | 15% | 23% |
| Northern Cape | 14% | 21% |
Averaged across the provinces, this means that roughly a third of all commuters in South Africa are choosing to boycott minibus taxis. It’s also likely that the figure is higher now than it was when the survey was conducted a few years ago.
Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the Western Cape, where nearly half of the province’s workers are now seeking alternate transport, with dangerous driving, lawless acts, and roadworthiness being the most commonly cited grievances.
These issues were recently cast into the spotlight again due to the taxi strike that occurred in Cape Town in early August, which resulted in eight days of violence where several people were killed, and Golden Arrow buses still accommodating workers were set on fire.
The strike initially came about over a dispute about the City’s enforcement of Section 87 of the National Land Transport Act, which states that a metro can impound a vehicle for contradicting the terms of its operating licence.
This resulted in the impounding of dozens of vehicles within a single week, which led to the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) calling for a Stay-Away protest in the middle of a workday.
The strike meant that thousands of commuters were stranded in the city centre and forced to walk along the N2 highway to get home, with some needing to travel dozens of kilometres on foot.
Transport activist and CEO of The Justice Fund, Lorenzo Davids, later explained that the taxi industry is misunderstood, and is often demonized in media coverage while its needs are being ignored by government.
He said that the industry transports roughly 3.7 million workers a day and that it generates R90 billion a year in revenue, making it an invaluable asset to the South African economy.
As such, Davids said that, unless the government starts involving the right people in the right conversations, the current issues of violence and lawlessness will persist.
Keyword: South Africa’s taxis are losing customers – The numbers