The National Taxi Alliance (NTA), SA’s second-largest taxi organisation, has pulled out of the national taxi summit scheduled for October 29, casting doubt over whether the all-important meeting will go ahead.
Theo Malele, NTA spokesperson, said it will reveal the reasons for the decision to not participate in the summit at a media briefing on Friday.
The summit is aimed at formalising the unregulated industry, but without the NTA’s participation the summit could end up not taking place as they are a key industry stakeholder.
The industry is important to the economy as it transports about 16.5-million passengers a day and contributes R50bn to GDP annually and spends more than R20bn on fuel.
Malele said transport minister Fikile Mbalula is aware of the reasons that led to the NTA pulling out of the summit.
Mbalula’s spokesperson Ayanda Allie-Paine did not respond to questions sent to her.
Thabiso Molelekwa, national spokesperson for the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) — the biggest taxi organisation — is adamant that the planned summit will go ahead. “The taxi industry is looking forward to it with renewed hope and confidence that the industry is now moving into a new era of business,” he said.
In September, Mbalula said the government planned to introduce a subsidy for the industry. He did not give details but it is hoped this will be one of the issues tackled at the summit.
“It would be an error [of] judgment to see this coming [summit] as another government talkshop because [the taxi industry] has rolled up its sleeves to ensure it doesn’t [become one],” said Molelekwa.
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