Cape Town - While the violent two-day taxi shutdown by the SA National Taxi Association (Santaco) concluded yesterday, the damage it did to the economy will last for a long time.
The taxi industry itself is estimated to have lost about R9 million a day. In addition, drivers stood to lose R2 million, Santaco said.
The torching of buses in Khayelitsha was the low point of the shutdown, while thousands of workers who commute by taxi were left stranded.
One Golden Arrow bus was torched and another one was hijacked but later recovered by undercover Law Enforcement officers in Khayelitsha.
Four arrests were made following these incidents on Monday, but there were no reports of violence or arrests from authorities yesterday.
Santaco, who protested against the suspension of the Blue Dot programme, as well as by-laws pertaining to the impounding of taxis, issued a statement to say services would resume today.
“To all our commuters, we thank you for your patience and understanding during the stayaway action. We apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused...”
Golden Arrow Bus Services spokesperson Bronwen Dyke Beyer said a new bus costs in excess of R2.6 million.
She implored the authorities to identify and arrest all perpetrators of violence and intimidation over the past two days and to ensure that essential public services were protected.
“Our greatest concern is always safety but there is also the issue of severe disruption to people’s lives. Matric pupils have been left stressing about how to get to school and where to write, while their parents are missing out on a day’s pay because they cannot get to work,” she said.
Mobility MEC Daylin Mitchell’s spokesperson, Ntomboxolo Makoba-Somdaka, said if 50% of people were unable to make it to work, losses to the economy would amount to R320m a day.
“Based on the National Households Travel Survey (NHTS) 2020, it is estimated that the industry loses about R15m a day that it does not operate. It is also estimated that the minibus taxi industry supports approximately R650m in economic activity a day by getting people to work,” she said.
The second day of the stayaway coincided with the release of findings from a survey conducted by Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI) called Violence Survey 2022, in partnership with BNP Paribas, on the impact of violence on SA businesses and communities.
The findings showed that community-based violence continued to have a negative impact on business performance, with almost half of businesses participating agreeing that violence was a major driver of absenteeism.
In terms of its impact on employees, 74% of those surveyed felt unsafe in their area (with those living in the Western Cape feeling the least safe), and 46% of respondents believed that gang violence had increased.
Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Jacques Moolman said the violence further destabilises a transport system already reeling from systemic challenges ranging from port bottlenecks to vandalism of the urban commuter rail infrastructure.
“A Chamber Business Survey finalised earlier this year identified transport as the number one priority area requiring improvement. Almost one-third of all survey respondents ranked transport as the Western Cape’s most significant challenge. It is a key finding aptly illustrated by this week’s reported destruction of Golden Arrow and MyCiTi buses,” he said.
He said while the chamber supported calls for a special prosecuting unit to deal with attacks on transport infrastructure, it also believed that a constructive dialogue was the only way to ensure a lasting solution with buy-in from all stakeholders.
Stellenbosch University professor at the Department of Logistics Stephan Krygsman said the country’s economy, both national and regional, was still in a recovery phase after the pandemic.
He said the taxi stay away, together with load shedding, was not good for the “fragile” economy. Krygsman said the economy was not resilient, and the taxi stay away was another blow to the system.
“Many of our citizens are also day workers or casual workers. If you lose a day or two a month, it makes a lot of difference. What makes it worse is that it is mainly those people that cannot afford cars that are impacted by this stay away,” he said.
Krygsman said one can also see the shutdown as the taxi industry holding the province to ransom – which he said was not ideal. He said there was a need for an additional transport option, such as rail, adding that the stay away may see a renewed emphasis to get rail back on track.
“The taxi industry probably also harmed its own cause. I think many role-players and officials realised that the city cannot depend only on one or two transport modes.
“Staying away only made people aware of the importance of the transport sector, the need to regulate the industry and provide affordable transport options for cities,” he said.
Reginald Kgwedi, also from the university’s department, cautioned about the timing of the stay away which he said came at a bad time.
“Economies flourish when there is stability – instability can lead to longer-term problems. We must be careful that we are not left with a development deficit that we cannot recover from,” he said.
Santaco confirmed the resumption of services from today.
mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za