Paper presented at the 21st Annual South African Transport Conference 15 - 18 July 2002 "Towards building capacity and accelerating delivery", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.
The taxi industry has over the years crept into the hearts of the South African community. Firstly, during the freedom struggle taxi operators risked being arrested when providing an
alternative to the government-supported bus service. Secondly, the industry was seen as
the sector that would bring fame as the first really successful black empowerment sector. One immediately asks why the minibus-taxi industry could not have progressed more successfully, since it controlled more than 65% of the market and was also popular with the community and government. However, the instability prevalent in the industry undermined its progress and success and prevented it from reaching the point of full
formalisation and empowerment and becoming a reliable business partner.
