Long-awaited IPTS buses all set to roll

Taxi drivers and ‘guardjies’ fear they may lose their jobs as commuters change to new option Thousands of free tickets for Nelson Mandela Bay’s bus system were dished out by mayor Athol Trollip on Friday as the buses are expected to start rolling from Monday. Launching the Libongolethu ticketing system at the Cleary Park Shopping Centre, Trollip said the wait was finally over after more than a decade in the pipeline. The buses, which form part of the long-awaited Integrated Public Transport System, will run from Cleary Park to the Port Elizabeth CBD. But while the city’s political leadership celebrated, some taxi drivers and “guardjies” raised concerns about how much they would be paid, as well as job security. Trollip, however, said: “We’ve got a vehicle operating company, Spectrum Alert. They represent the taxi industry that will be running this [system] and we’re very excited to get the buses on the road.” He said because of the spacial apartheid reality in South Africa, poor people were the furthest away from opportunities and the city, which resulted in them spending much more of their income on transport. “Having a reliable transport system, taking people living on the outskirts of the city and putting them in the city, starts redressing this spacial apartheid reality,” he said. Meanwhile, a group of taxi drivers and sliding-door operators (known as “guardjies”) from the northern areas said they were unhappy with the manner in which the IPTS system was being rolled out. The group said they had sent a letter to the metro’s roads and transport portfolio head Rano Kayser on February 16 to raise their concerns. Taxi driver Shaun Padayachee asked if the rollout of the IPTS starting on Monday meant he would no longer drive his taxi. Padayachee said he was worried about how he would feed his three children should he no longer be employed. “The DA said they were about creating jobs, but the IPTS is causing us to lose our jobs as taxi drivers. “There has not once been an invitation that’s been sent out to the broader public about job opportunities,” he said. Padayachee said should the taxi industry be obsolete in the metro, it would not only affect taxi owners, but mechanics, people who washed the taxis and petrol stations too.

The taxi drivers raised concerns about the company overseeing the project – Spectrum Alert – and said people who were previously not affiliated with the taxi industry now had jobs when taxi drivers were meant to be given first preference. Atlon Metcalfe, a taxi driver from the northern areas, said he was not against the project but wanted more clarity regarding the administrative work dealing with the IPTS. “It seems like this company wants us to go from taxi drivers to washing buses. “No one has ever directly spoken to us and given us details regarding the whole project. All that we know is hearsay,” Metcalfe said. Asked if he had received the letter from the concerned taxi drivers, Kayser confirmed had he received and signed it. Kayser said the city was currently investigating the concerns raised by the taxi drivers. “All those so-called guardjies and taxi drivers belong to certain associations and as the city, we have our own limitations when dealing with the association,” he said. Kayser said the project would be run by the two associations, Natoa and the Algoa Taxi Association, and the municipality was not involved in identifying who was appointed and trained. “I’ve committed to identifying if their allegations are substantial and I’m investigating the matter,” Kayser said. He added the idea behind the IPTS was not for people to be unemployed or make the taxi industry disappear. He said the municipality had to establish if the taxi drivers were part of the group who handed their taxis over to the municipality or not. “We’ve been clear from the onset that those who benefit from this must be people from the taxi industry,” he said. At the launch, Trollip said elderly people, students and scholars would get 20% off on tickets. Tickets are available at all municipal customer care offices.