Abstract:
Paratransit - widely called Minibus Taxi (MBT) in South Africa - is common public transport
for the society to reach their socio-economic opportunities and activities. The history of
MBT services goes back to 1920’s and it is greatly shaped by the changes in legislative
frameworks (broadly the Apartheid regime). This industry remains informal, while its
service-quality is widely questioned, and related operational strikes and intense rivalry are
at the helm of the national contemporary issues. For rural communities, ‘best’ alternative
mobility for long-distance trips is hitchhiking - a service that is globally associated with
crime and constituted by a variety of modes, including MBT. That said, this study aimed at
highlighting the impacts of the legislative framework, particularly the inter-provincial route
permits, on the travel experience of the public. Primary data includes the random, one-on-
one interviews of travellers, and observations of corridors of both hitchhiking and MBT
services. The findings show that in all six towns of interest, the local MBT associations with
route permits generally disrupt the hitchhiking services to guard their market shares. As a
result, many travelling experiences and livelihoods of the hitchhiking assistants are
negatively affected. The Provincial Regulatory Entities need to align their protocols to
efficiently serve, and these may need further research on public-private relationships,
including ICT institutions, to bring forth amicable and sustainable solution(s).
