Durban — The Department of Transport says most taxi vehicles now meet all the safety requirements that were introduced through the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme (TRP) which include among others, safety belts and roll-over bars.
The department said this when it commended the TRP as a huge success following the scrapping of over 81 000 old taxis with a payout of more than R5.6 billion scrapping allowance to taxi operators since its inception in October 2006 to March 2023.
The TRP is an intervention by the government to bring about safe, effective, reliable, affordable and accessible taxi operations by introducing new taxi vehicles designed to undertake public transport functions in the taxi industry.
Furthermore, the TRP is not only about scrapping old taxi vehicles, but also about how best to help operators to benefit constructively through empowerment.
In a social media post, the department said as the TRP approaches its 18th anniversary in October, it is planning to scrap 3 750 old taxis.
“The TRP continues to make significant strides in changing the face of the taxi industry – away from what was normally referred to as moving coffin taxi vehicles, which characterised the face of the industry to modern-day safer taxi vehicles,” said the department.
Moreover, they said when the TRP started in 2006, the target was to scrap 135 000 old taxis, with a scrapping allowance set at R50 000.
“Over 81 000 old taxi vehicles have now been scrapped with the scrapping allowance increased to R151 000 since the beginning of April 2023,” explained the department. Furthermore, it said it would continue to work with the taxi associations to encourage their members to scrap old taxis.
South African National Taxi Council spokesperson Sifiso Shangase said that they are wishing for the government to change its terms on the scrapping of vehicles. He said instead of scrapping the vehicle based on the year it was purchased, they should first check the condition of the vehicle before scrapping it.
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