Move to regulate taxi industry
Zibonele Ntuli
25 May 2005
Minibus taxis, despised by some and loved by others, are here to stay, with hundreds of thousands of South Africans depending on them daily.
Characterised by imaginative hand gestures on the streets of Soweto, the "Kaap-toe-nou" cries in the Western Cape and accommodating slow-downs in the dusty villages of the Eastern Cape, minibus taxis are everywhere.
The taxi industry accounts for 65 percent of all public transport while buses and trains account for 21 percent and 14 percent respectively.
The industry has created hundreds of thousands of jobs: drivers, rank marshals, fare collectors, administrators - the list goes on.
The drivers are hired on the basis that they possess a driver's licence and a permit to transport the public. They enter into informal and verbal contracts with their employers - the taxi owners. The drivers work long hours and many do not belong to trade unions.
The business has remained unregulated for years.
Concerns have often been raised that minibus taxis are unsafe, poorly maintained and prone to accidents.
It is for these reasons that government has intervened to regulate the industry. It has now laid down conditions of employment for drivers, rank marshals and administration workers within the sector.
This sectoral determination for the taxi industry, launched in Pretoria a week ago, is a culmination of years of consultation between government and stakeholders.
It determines minimum wages, working hours, leave allowances, meal intervals and contracts of employment between the taxi owners and their drivers.
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana says a revised recapitalisation process has provided an opportunity for government to measure whether its proposals will effectively address the needs of the sector.
"Wages would be set at a national single level at a rate of R1 350 for drivers and administrative staff. Other employees such as the rank marshal
would be paid R1 080 and other employees not elsewhere specified, such as fare collectors and cleaners, would be paid R945," says Mr Mdladlana.
The drivers have appealed to government to set up a mechanism to monitor implementation of the law.
"Government's proposals are superb, as drivers we thought government does not recognise us. I will be happy to see drivers and passengers happy," a driver said.
The new law makes it compulsory for drivers to rest at least 12 hours per day, and a period of 36 continuous hours per week.
It requires that drivers be paid overtime and entitles them to public holidays, meal intervals, annual leave and pay slips.
The law stresses that work on a public holiday should be done in accordance with an agreement
A taxi driver is entitled to three weeks' leave on full pay a year. There must be an agreement between the owner and the driver that there must be at least one day of annual leave on full pay for every 17 days
worked.
Women drivers are entitled to maternity leave of four consecutive months, on a date from which a doctor certifies that it is necessary for her health or that of her unborn child.
Taxi owners are also to be subject to criminal proceedings if they employ children under the age of 15 years, as the education, physical and mental development of working children is placed at risk.
With government now having laid down the working conditions for taxi owners and their drivers, the responsibility is now up to all the stakeholders in the industry to implement this and make it a success.
Government insists that it will help taxi organisations with educating the drivers and other employees in the industry about the new regulations.
Those who need more information can phone the call centre set up by government, at 0860 101 018, or they can contact labour centres in the provinces.
The law regarding minimum wages comes into effect on July 1, while other
changes to working conditions are to be implemented sooner.
"What we need now in this industry is the establishment of discipline, the principle of authority and responsibility. I have no doubt in my mind that the taxi industry will rise and triumph in this effort," said Mdladlana.
Source: BuaNews
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