Taxi commuters brace for fare hikes

Annual taxi fare increases due on July 1 will hurt commuters’ pockets even more than usual as a result of the fuel price hikes.

The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has confirmed that each region will determine increases individually and communicate this to the relevant communities.

According to Dolphin Coast Taxi Association notices, local trips will cost R2 more (instead of the usual R1 annual increase), while long distance trips will increase by as much as R5.

Association PRO Siyabonga Ntombela said the fare increases were inevitable because of the spate of petrol hikes.

“Strictly speaking, we could have raised the tariffs more, but because we transport low-income commuters we had to consider their hardships,” said Ntombela.

A trip from Ballito to KwaDukuza will increase from R19 to R22, while a journey to Tongaat will also cost R3 more, from R17 to R20.

This mean someone travelling daily between Stanger and Ballito will now pay R180 more a week (over five working days) – from R1 140 to R1 320.

The Tongaat to Ballito route charge will be R1200 a month, up from R1 020.

A trip to Shaka’s Head from Ballito will cost R12 (from R10), Etete R18 (from R15), while the fare to Groutville, Melville and Thembeni will be raised to R18.

Trips to Nkobongo, Shayamoya and Shakaskraal are up R2 to R16.

From Salt Rock to Etete, Groutville, Malende and Thembeni the fare will be R18, and all stop-to-stops will cost R12.

The fare from Ballito to Durban will be R40, to Gateway R30 and Verulam R30.

The KwaDukuza and Isiqalokuhle taxi associations are yet to announce their annual fare increases.

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