The Tshwane metro will begin enforcing long-delayed compliance measures on the various Hammanskraal taxi associations by the first quarter of next year.

These measures are set to mark a major push to finally implement the 2017 agreement that required operators to terminate their trips at the Wonderboom Intermodal Facility.

The deal compensated operators for forfeiting the 10km stretch between Wonderboom and the Pretoria CBD following the launch of the A Re Yeng Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.

It was signed by the metro and the Hammanskraal – Stinkwater – Eersterus and Ga-Mokone –Hammanskraal – Stinkwater taxi associations.

In exchange, taxis were expected to drop off commuters at the Rainbow Junction Station, now the Hector Peterson Intermodal Facility, from where commuters were to board municipal buses to the CBD.

However, despite compensation being paid as far back as 2016, taxi operators continued to operate illegally in the inner city, arguing that the restrictions severely cut their income.

Drivers mentioned that they were making as little as R150 a week instead of the R1 000 they earned before the agreement.

A year ago, former Transport MMC Katlego Mathebe expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing defiance, telling Council that the situation was undesirable and that licence revocations should have been pursued through the Gauteng province. That enforcement never took place.

Now, the metro said the long-standing impasse is finally reaching a turning point.

According to Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo, official drop-offs at the Wonderboom Intermodal Facility will begin during the first quarter of the next calendar year.

“The metro is engaging with taxi industry leadership and concerned stakeholders with a view to commence with official drop-offs. Therefore, compliance with agreements will be enforced from the said start-off date,” said Mashigo.

As part of the renewed enforcement effort, the metro confirmed that it has instructed the Transport Operation License Administrative Body (TOLAB) to amend operating licences for all affected operators, 375 in total.

Mashigo said the TMPD has also been briefed and will form part of the Line 1A task team to prevent continued CBD-bound trips by compensated associations once implementation starts.

Despite previous suggestions that non-compliance could trigger licence suspensions, the metro now says revocations are not expected.

Mashigo said operators will be legally tied to updated conditions stipulating that routes must end at Wonderboom.

He added that the compensation arrangements agreed to in 2016 remain unchanged, despite operators’ earlier complaints of losses.

He emphasised that the metro continues to work within the existing Memorandum of Agreement governing integration of the taxi industry into the BRT system, including clauses in the Bus Operating Company Agreement that prohibit competition with A Re Yeng.

To prevent tensions, the metro mentioned that structured communication protocols remain in place to address disputes before they escalate.

Broader taxi route issues continue to be handled through the Gauteng Provincial Regulatory Entity.

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