‘Taxi industry must play active role in developing IPTS bus service’

The taxi industry must play an active part in the development of the IPTS bus service in the Bay, the general secretary of the Nelson Mandela Bay Regional Taxi Council, Andile Andries, said on Wednesday.

He was speaking at the launch of the construction of a depot in Uitenhage, where buses will be stationed.

Addressing officials from the municipality, including roads and transport political head Rosie Daaminds, and members of the Uitenhage Taxi Association, Andries said the taxi associations knew their duty was to provide a reliable and affordable transport service to residents of Uitenhage, but they would no longer be spectators in development that involved the industry.

"We are saying gone are those days where we watch IPTS money being used under our noses while we watch.

"We're no longer going to be spectators in projects meant to improve our lives as the taxi industry.

"We want to participate in projects involving us and whatever decision they are making, they need to ensure the taxi industry is part of those decisions."

Andries said when former transport minister Jeff Radebe launched the project nationally, he had done so because he saw an opportunity to transform the taxi industry from an informal business to a formal one.

Daaminds said there was still space for meetings to consult around the taxi sector's demands.

"The depot belongs to the taxi industry, so if they say 'nothing for us without us', then we have to go back to the table and discuss that so that all stakeholders can be happy so that we can start.

"The only solution from my side is to call everyone, including SMMEs, so we can discuss where they benefit and where taxi associations are supposed to benefit."

Daaminds said that taxi association members were the first people meant to benefit from IPTS money so they had to respect it, and they also had to consider the view of small businesses in the metro.

Siyanda Mbanjwa, a member of the taxi industry, said: "The taxi industry thinks of itself as a broad church because we have hawkers within us and other business people within us, so we want to benefit within the value chain of the project.

"We have been neglected and left off the mainstream economy for far too long.

"So we want to catch up so that we get to benefit out of all the projects that relate primarily to transport," Mbanjwa said.

Addressing the crowd, Daaminds warned the taxi associations not to fight over this project because the National Treasury and the department of roads and transport were keeping a watchful eye on the metro to ensure all its money was spent and the project was moving forward.