Impact from shutdown of taxi ranks won’t be major‚ says City

The Johannesburg Department of Roads and Transport is confident that the impact from the closure of five Soweto taxi ranks will not be as grave as it appears.

The department believes that this will not be a complete inconvenience for commuters as they will be able to use other taxi ranks in and around Soweto.

“There are other taxi ranks around Soweto that they can use. This is just affecting five ranks‚ it’s not a complete shutdown. They will still get taxis in and around Soweto but not from these specific ranks‚” said Melitah Madiba‚ Johannesburg Roads and Transport spokesperson.

The affected ranks and routes are Mofolo Kwa-Mthethwa Informal Taxi Rank; Makhetha Stores Informal Taxi Rank; Dube Station Taxi Rank; Makhetha Garage (Phefeni) Taxi Rank; and Uncle Tom’s Taxi Rank.

On Tuesday Ismail Vadi‚ MEC for roads and transport‚ announced the closure of five taxi ranks after a prolonged route dispute between two associations‚ Nancefield Dube West Taxi Association (NANDUWE) and Witwatersrand Taxi Association (WATA).

This extraordinary measure would be effective from July 13 until August 13‚ he said.

"This comes after careful consideration of all representations received relating to the Notice of Intent to close minibus taxi ranks and related routes linked to both associations.

“Circumstances warranting such extraordinary measures include violence‚ unrest or instability in any sector of the public transport industry in a declared area or between operators in an area; the safety of passengers using the relevant services or where the situation has deteriorated to an unacceptable level that closure of ranks and/or routes is required to normalise the situation‚" Vadi said.

The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) spokesperson Thabisho Molelekwa told TimesLIVE that growing industry pressures fuel the violence that often compromises the safety of commuters.

“Taxis face increasing competition due to the expansion of the transport industry to include bus rapid transit (BRT) systems like Rea Vaya and app-based taxi services like Uber‚” said Molelekwa.

“The department is aware of 177 registered taxi associations across Gauteng‚ with 75 being those from Johannesburg respectively. Though there has not been an increase in taxi associations but more and more taxi owners joining as members of the industry‚” said Madiba. The National Taxi Alliance (NTA) is pleading with associations to uphold law and order.

“We are sincerely touched by these barbaric acts and profusely apologise to all affected members of society and also pass our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.

“Our members (the two affected associations) are reminded to respect the Gauteng Provincial Regulatory Entity ruling as law. Even though the one association has lodged an appeal but law and order must be upheld‚” said Theo Malele‚ NTA national spokesperson.