Mbalula said that an efficient, affordable, safe and reliable public transport system was a pre-requisite if transport was to be a driver of economic activity and an enabler of economic output.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula speaks at the Western Cape taxi lekgotla in Cape Town on 15 October 2020. Picture: @MbalulaFikile/Twitter
CAPE TOWN – Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula believes that realising the formalisation, regulation and empowerment of the taxi industry will be the game changer required to fundamentally transform South Africa’s public transport system.
Mbalula on Thursday joined Western Cape Transport MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela in Cape Town for a provincial taxi lekgotla.
It coincides with Transport Month and comes after a recent spike in taxi violence in the Western Cape.
Mbalula said that at about 66%, the taxi industry commanded the largest market share of all road-based public transport.
He added that an efficient, affordable, safe and reliable public transport system was a pre-requisite if transport was to be a driver of economic activity and an enabler of economic output.
Mbalula said that today’s lekgotla was not another talk shop aimed at rehashing discussions and resolutions of the many taxi indabas in the past but an action-oriented process that would deliver tangible results and ensure that the industry played its part as a key player in the economy.
He said that today’s event was an integral part of the build-up towards a historic national taxi lekgotla, which will be held from 29 October.
During his address, Transport MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela highlighted the ongoing scourge of taxi violence.
This year, 87 people have been killed in incidents related to taxi violence in the province.
