The minibus taxi industry is central to the public transport sector in South Africa. Minibus taxis are not only popular for their affordability and accessibility, but are notorious for many reasons.
The minibus taxi industry is central to the public transport sector in South Africa. Minibus taxis are not only popular for their affordability and accessibility, but are notorious for many reasons.
Most South Africans have suffered or witnessed bad driving behaviour and hostility, especially by drivers of minibus taxis. They are known for their disregard for road rules and etiquette, unroadworthy vehicles and overloading. “They know we are dependent on them. That is why they have a bad attitude towards passengers,” said regular taxi user, Zanele Mbete.
“They will tell you to get off their taxi if you point out the problems with their taxis, or complain. We have learnt to live with these bad conditions.” However, like elsewhere in South Africa, Grahamstown taxis are the only form of public transport that penetrates every last road, including the poorest shack settlements. Taxis are the daily transport lifeline for the most of the working population.
Like many cities in South Africa, Grahamstown has organised taxi associations that regulate the formal operation of local taxis. The Border Alliance Association and Ncedo Taxi Association are the two key organisations operating in Grahamstown. Recently taxis in Grahamstown have been strongly criticised, following accidents that killed several people and left many others critically injured.
One person died and nine other were injured when a Toyota Venture overturned in Fingo village on 14 March. Most recently, on 13 April, four people died and two were injured when a BMW and a minibus taxi collided and burst into flames on the N2, 15km from Grahamstown. “Accidents can happen to any form of public transport,” said taxi owner and driver, Zet Mamana.
“All [transport has]issues; accidents can happen in a bus, plane and car, so the recent accidents are not a taxi issue. Accidents happen all the time. The reason for our taxis being in the condition that they are in is because of the bad and damaged roads… your taxi won’t last a year on these roads.”
But do the many potholes and rocky gravel roads in the township account for the damage to taxis, as Mamana suggests? “Taxis have no excuse for operating unroadworthy vehicles, as people’s lives are at stake,” said assistant director of traffic services, Grahamstown, Coenraad Hanekom.
He warned that action was being taken against drivers of vehicles that are not in a condition to be on the roads. He emphasised that vehicle owners were responsible for ensuring their vehicles were in a roadworthy condition.
Thobile Jacob, taxi rank manager representing Ncedo Association, said it was the responsibility of associations to ensure that the taxis operating under their management were roadworthy. “The Toyota Venture that caused that accident [in March]was definitely not in a condition to be on the roads,” said Jacob. Mamana said it was the responsibility of taxi rank officials to check the condition of the vehicles and Jacob supported this.
“It is part of my job to make sure that the taxis that come to the rank are in a good condition for the road,” Jacob said. He said taxis whose owners had registered them with formal taxi associations would be roadworthy. “The bad taxis that you see on the roads don’t belong to organisations, so we cannot speak on their behalf.”
According to data from the road safety NGO, Arrive Alive, taxis comprise 65% of all transport in South Africa, with the minibus taxi dominating 90% of that market, and metered taxis comprising the remaining 10%.
Like elsewhere in South Africa, the Grahamstown taxi industry is faced with many challenges that threaten passengers' safety, including unroadworthy vehicles, poor driver attitudes and the operation of unregistered taxis. But while the image of taxis continues to be poor, it seems nothing will stop their remaining South Africa's most popular means of transport.
