When the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) in KwaZulu-Natal took a decision to increase fares eight years ago, most commuters were not as financially strapped.
The increase, which comes into effect on Friday, is most likely to lead to more hungry families and absenteeism in schools and workplaces.
Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group (PMBEJD) coordinator Mervyn Abrahams told Sunday Times Daily the level of inflation and the financial pressures that households were dealing with meant any increase affected them much greater than it would have in the past.
“The reason for that is we are seeing increases across all four major household expenditures, which are transport, electricity, debt services and food. These critical expenses have all increased way above inflation,” he said.
Santaco has not released the information on the increase amount, but it said it “did not aim to dig deep into commuters’ pockets”.
Santaco spokesperson Mduduzi Makhunga told Sunday Times Daily taxi associations would determine the increase for their routes.
“It will be about R3. Increases happen every July so commuters know it is coming,” he said.
In a Facebook post, Santaco said it was decided that all the 246 associations in the province would increase fares once a year regardless of the increase in fuel, motor spares and all transportation costs.
“The taxi industry is a self-sustaining industry which is a leader in mass transportation service, moving all South Africans in a continuously improving transport service that is affordable, safe and reliable.”
Abrahams explained commuters would accept the higher fares because transport was a priority cost.
“It is a major expense that is prioritised because if a worker has to get to work they have to pay that cost because they need that wage, and of course the children must go to school so it’s a priority cost in a household. Therefore transport more often than not gets paid first.”
“The impact of spending more on transport means they have less money available in their budget to pay for other essentials services. Households are going to have to cut back on something, and the area they are most likely to cut back on is food. Because food is the one cost you can control. We are going to see hunger increase, and we already have a hunger problem in SA,” he explained.
There will come a breaking point, Abrahams said.
“That breaking point will be different in every household. We need to be clear that households cannot carry these increases by themselves and at some point there needs to be government intervention.”
Ncumisa Fandesi Ndelu, who launched the “One Family, One Stockpile” group on Facebook several years ago, said the fare hike was “heartbreaking”.
“This will add to the burden consumers are already feeling. As it is people are struggling. This will really make things worse, and I’m afraid it may have repercussions we’re notconsidering yet, but it would be interesting to talk to schoolteachers and even employers about the level of absenteeism after this.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.