Taxi payments halted

PE operators wrongfully paid R7m for IPTS project

THE gravy train has stopped for 45 taxi operators who were wrongfully paid a whopping R7-million over the past two years by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

Even though the municipality was made aware just months after the payments started that the operators were not, in fact, entitled to the money, it continued to pay them until December.

Yesterday, the national Department of Transport instructed the metro not to pay a cent more to the taxi industry until the future phases of the Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS) were on track.

It also emerged yesterday that the metro had been informed by the then acting IPTS project manager, Tony Arthur, that 45 of the 59 taxis removed from the road had not previously operated on the Summerstrand route as per requirements.

The 59 taxis were impounded in January 2013 to create a commuter market for IPTS buses in Summerstrand.

This means that 45 taxi operators and ambassadors were paid R6 500 a month for two years, amounting to R7.020-million. The taxis were put in storage and the operators paid between January 2013 and December last year.

A 60th operator was erroneously paid for two years, even though his vehicle was never taken in.

In Arthur’s closing report to the metro in July 2013, shortly after former IPTS project head Mhleli Tshamase took over, he wrote: “La-phum’ilanga [taxi organisation] provided a list of the taxis to be removed from the affected routes, but it was recently found that 45 of the taxis were not operating on the affected routes.”

Some of the vehicles taken off the road to make way for the IPTS buses during the pilot period were in a poor condition and unroadworthy.

Some were allegedly towed into the municipal depot while others were found to be without engines during a recent inspection.

In a September 28 report to the transport portfolio committee, Arthur wrote that the company that had been hired to manage the intake of the taxis, Axios Consulting, had failed to inform the metro of the details and arrangements before the taxis were stored.

Councillors were supposed to discuss the report yesterday, but because it was delivered late, the meeting was adjourned and the matter will be discussed at the next transport meeting.

-Rochelle de Kock