Minibus-taxi industry needs to be formalised to receive subsidy

All sides agree the sector needs to be subsidised by the state, but monitoring how any money would be spent remains an issuehe current dispute between transport minister Fikile Mbalula and the taxi industry began with the minister’s announcement of a R1bn-plus fund to enable ex gratia payments to be offered to taxi operators affected by the lockdown regulations.

Formalisation of the industry is an obvious prerequisite to the provision of a subsidy. The government clearly cannot hand over public funds to informal businesses that operate entirely on a cash basis and keep almost no accounting records. Its report began by describing the public hearings held throughout the country — no fewer than 36 meetings, each attended by taxi owners and drivers, as well as the local commuting public:Although a wide range of issues was raised at all the hearings, the issues that were raised more often, in greater detail, and with most passion, were the demands for the government to address the issue of subsidy to level the ‘playing field’ between taxi, bus, and rail.

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