Joburg MMC for transport Kenny Kunene and taxi bosses yesterday inked a protocol document that will see the city getting involved and giving guidance on how taxi operators engage with each other and to also promote good conduct between taxi drivers and commuters.
The reconciliation process will include both parties identifying an independent person who can conciliate the dispute and then the the city’s group legal and contracts will appoint that to mediate. The city will bear the cost of mediation and conciliation. Veli Thwala, chairperson of Santaco, said his organisation received countless complaints from commuters about their drivers: “There are incidents where drivers beat passengers and sometimes our drivers shout at fellow Africans who are unable to speak the common language in the area and can only speak English. This training will help our drivers to learn to find ways to communicate properly with passengers,” said Thwala.
“This particular agreement was necessitated by the fact that the taxi industry uses our roads and the taxi industry is a critical stakeholder to economic development of our city. We needed to have partnership that is formalised and structured. Now the city does not have to engage taxi associations individually.