Abstract:
The minibus-taxi industry is the largest public transport mode in Cape Town and South
Africa. Estimates vary but as of 2020 the National Household Transport Survey showed
that minibus-taxis carried 83% of public transport passengers.
Despite its importance as a mode of public transport to South African commuters the
minibus-taxi remains an uncontracted and unsubsidised service, with passengers
commonly citing overcrowding and safety as problems. Illegal operations, oversubscribed
routes and violent competition between minibus-taxi associations are endemic. Maximising
passenger numbers to generate profit (as opposed to maintaining a schedule) encourages
unsafe driving. As such, minibus-taxis are generally cheaper with their fares compared to
formal subsided services such as bus and rail. They also have the ability to undercut and
therefore compete for passengers. Finally, the ability of taxi association leaders to extract
fees from members encourages ever-expanding association membership, while
government, for its part, has struggled to regulate the industry effectively.
This position paper suggests ways to regularise the taxi industry, including changes to
existing business models through formalisation and collective operational management,
regulatory interventions and leveraging innovative technologies to collect the data needed
to better understand conditions on the ground and improve decision-making. It is also
important that government’s ability to enforce the law is continually strengthened. Over
time, these interventions are anticipated to lead to a system which aligns incentives,
regulations, and enforcement to improve outcomes.
