[Editor’s Note: The headline has been amended for clarity]
Cape Town - After a two-year hold on new applications for metered-taxi operating licences, which included e-hailing services, the City has given the go-ahead to lift the moratorium imposed to reduce the risk of an oversupply of drivers in Cape Town.
Now the Western Cape Provincial Regulatory Entity (PRE), responsible for receiving applications and issuing public transport operating licences, is expected to announce when it will lift the moratorium and what processes operators need to follow to apply for a licence.
Urban Mobility Mayco member Roberto Quintas said: “It is anticipated that, over time, as new applications are received and licences issued, more metered-taxi operators will be providing a public transport service – be it from a rank, or on an e-hailing platform.”
Quintas said during the moratorium, the City completed an inventory of all metered-taxi operating licences in the system; developed a method to estimate the demand for services and operating licences; and established a metered-taxi inter-modal planning sub-committee (IPC) as a forum for engagement with the industry.
Uber South Africa (SA) and Bolt welcomed the lifting of the moratorium and said it would open doors for more e-hailing drivers to make a respectable living, as well as provide convenient and reliable options for travel across Cape Town.
Taxi associations in the Western Cape welcomed the lifting of the moratorium, but remain concerned about the business they lose to e-hailing services.
Nceba Enge, Western Cape secretary general of taxi body Codeta said they were very glad about the lifting of the moratorium and hoped that this would enable their business to grow, especially as most vehicles were taken by banks because of the slowed business and loss in income.
“In terms of Uber and Bolt, they don’t have regulated licensing in SA, even though they operate, and what happens is that they pick up people close to our taxi ranks which is what creates problems in the taxi industry.
“We spoke to the Western Cape Government about this last year, thinking they would sort it out, but up to now nothing has happened,” Enge said.
Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) spokesperson, Nkululeko Sityebi, said the feeling in the association was government was not willing to help the taxi industry and more thorough consultation needed to take place as it appeared that government sought to take away its business.
He said Cata was not gong to sit back and allow this, however, all engagements would be done by the book and through Santaco.
Sandra Dickson, founder of STOP COCT lobby group, said: “The City’s announcement is vague and comes as mysteriously as when the restrictions were abruptly implemented.
“STOP COCT wondered whether this lifting of restrictions on e-hailing was done with wide consultation with taxi operators because if not, new transport services may become a target to those who think their businesses was being infringed upon.”
Uber South Africa (SA) and Bolt welcomed the lifting of the moratorium and said it would open doors for more e-hailing drivers to make a respectable living for themselves and their families, as well as provide convenient and reliable options for riders across Cape Town.
Bolt head of public policy for East and Southern Africa, Andrew Ihsaan Gasnolar, said: “We believe that this is an important first step in laying the foundations for the City to recognise e-hailing as a distinct and stand-alone mode of transport, and will enable the sector to grow and to both create economic opportunities for thousands of drivers and provide an alternative mode of transport for people.”
Uber SA head of public policy Ofentse Mokwena said they were pro-regulation and open to engaging with regulators to find ways for drivers to easily obtain economic opportunities while being compliant.
After having his vehicle impounded in August last year and having to pay a substantial impoundment fine, e-hailing driver Timothy Gibisela was overjoyed at the news and said it would allow him to operate without fear of traffic offers targeting e-hailing drivers.
Quintas said: “A healthy metered-taxi industry has the ability to sustain thousands of households with an income. We are proud that we can support these opportunities through the PRE, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry in the interest of operators, and all of the Capetonians and visitors making use of their services.”
kristin.engel@inl.co.za