An investigation into the impact of the taxi recapitalisation programme focus in the Rustenburg area

Abstract

The study will be an investigation into the effects of the taxi recapitalisation programme focus in the Rustenburg area. The taxi recapitalisation programme was introduced by government in consultation with affected parties to bring about safe, effective, reliable, affordable and accessible taxi industry in South Africa by introducing new taxi vehicles. The minibus taxi recapitalisation project is a current initiative (started in 1996) to formalise the South African minibus taxi industry (Suffla & van Niekerk, 2004). A Total of 219 respondents of the taxi industry participated in this study by completing questionnaires. The importance of the programme is also addressed as well as the problems that existed and caused concerns in the taxi drivers. The requirements and the challenges of the programme are highlighted as per questionnaire responses received. The response that we received showed that the challenge was the duration of the payment of the scrapping allowance and the amount given for scrapping your old taxi vehicle. The other challenge was that there is no specific taxi vehicle approved that they must acquire to comply with the taxi recapitalisation programme. The overall challenge was that the taxi recapitalisation programme is not showing results. The taxi industry in South Africa has its roots in the informal economy; operating predominantly outside the legal, commercial and fiscal spheres of the economy. Despite its informal character, the taxi industry has become the preferred mode of public transport. Therefore, the regulation of the industry should not summarily be taken as a superior alternative. On the other hand startlingly poor road safety, poor security and low profit margins are threatening the survival of the industry (Fourie & Pretorius, 2005). The objective is to ensure that the taxi industry is not undermining labour's control and state regulation of the economy in terms of both taxes and social legislation.