Gauteng govt to meet with taxi industry to crack down on violence ahead of festive season

The Gauteng Provincial Government is preparing to engage with the taxi sector and law enforcement as it ramps up safety for the festive season. 

Speaking on behalf of Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Kedibone Diale Tlabela, spokesperson Lesiba Mpya confirms that a meeting has been scheduled to stabilise the transport sector following spates of violence in the province.

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The government has launched a 97-strong team to enforce laws and regulations, focusing on reducing conflict and improving compliance. 

“This comes at a very important time, as it is the festive season. We have adopted a theme as we launch the festive season road safety campaign called ‘E thoma ka wena’ [It starts with you].” 

Tlabela highlights the importance of modernising the system, including digital data to track operators and their profiles.

There is a great oversaturation of routes due to non-compliance, which will lead to conflicts.

“In one of the associations, where the actual issued operating licenses should be about 500, our visual assessment has been that there are over 2,000 taxis on those routes. 

“There has got to be sufficient discussion with the industry about taking accountability and collectively finding a solution moving forward,” he adds. 

To listen to Mpya in conversation with 702 and CapeTalk’s Africa Melane, click below: