February 17, 2005

By Wiseman Khuzwayo

Johannesburg - Mthatha in the former Transkei will soon get a purpose-built public transport facility worth R65 million.

The project is being spearheaded by TaxiProp, the property development arm of the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco).

Pule Mabe, the national project manager at TaxiProp, said the construction of the retail mall and taxi rank would bring a lot of business and employment opportunities for the people of Mthatha and surrounding areas.

TaxiProp has said that it intended building 120 such centres across the country over the next 10 years at a cost of R2.3 billion.

Construction of a similar centre is under way in Randfontein on the West Rand.

Mabe said: "The minibus taxi industry is a critical pillar of the South African public transport sector, currently being the most available mode to the largest number of transport customers across a variety of income and need segments.

"As such, taxis carry 65 percent of the 2.5 billion annual passenger trips in the urban environment and serve as the base-load public transport carrier both during peak and off-peak transport times.

"Ownership and involvement by the taxi industry will ensure that the retail centres remain accessible to people who do not have access to private mobility."

Mabe said the financial benefit of ownership of the centres would economically empower the taxi industry and would assist with the orderly growth and development of the sector, adding weight to the anticipated taxi recapitalisation programme.

Mthatha was the region's main economic hub and about 41 400 people came into the town daily. Public transport hubs contributed enormously to the gross income of the area, Mabe said.

"The O R Tambo municipality, in collaboration with the department of transport, has successfully registered a number of operators with [the SA Revenue Service] and is intensifying this effort to bring all operators on board to enable the sector to realise its growth potential.

"This exercise and many others aimed at transforming the sector have already received a thumbs up from the Eastern Cape Taxi Council, a provincial arm of Santaco, with provincial president Zanemvula Gaya in the forefront of this programme, including the revamp of the Jubilee Square taxi rank," he added.