Santaco invests in taxi industry

eMBALENHLE – The provincial chairman of the South African National Taxi Council, Mr Fanyana Sibanyoni, handed over 11 vehicles to the provincial executive members of the council on Wednesday, 3 April.

This was part of the plan of transforming the taxi industry into a formal and stable business.

The cars are registered under the name of Santaco and the executive members will return them to the organisation when their term of office is over.

“Gone are the days where taxi owners and drivers were classified as uncivilised people and called names such as Mageza. We are transforming this industry. We are vision-driven and we want this business to be self-sustaining that is why we are giving these cars to the executive members.

“Mr Sibanyoni said another 28 vehicles will be handed over in June. He said this is one of the steps towards restructuring the taxi industry and to make it an empowered and self-sustaining industry.

“The vehicles will help the executive members to do the work of the organisation easily and to be able to be where they are expected to be.”

Mr Sibanyoni said Santaco has various plans to transform the industry, including safety campaigns and training of drivers and taxi rank officers.

He called on residents and the government to support them and to forward any ideas that could lead to the improvement of the organisation. He said owners and drivers are often trained on how to deal with their passengers.

“We began removing all stickers insinuating vulgar language or racism and we are teaching our taxi owners and drivers to always be professional. No driver is allowed to smoke inside a taxi or play music too loud.

“We urged the community to support our drivers and stop undermining them. If ever they are unhappy with anything, they are allowed to go to their local taxi rank offices to submit a formal complaint.”