NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO 57
DATE REPLY SUBMITTED: 30 MARCH 2010
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: FRIDAY, 5 MARCH 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: NO 4 â 2010)
Mr S S Mazosiwe (ANC â EC) asked the Minister of Transport:
1) Whether the Government has engaged the banking sector, the relevant
retailing car industry and taxi associations regarding the sale of
panel vans to citizens who will then convert them into mini bus taxis;
if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the
relevant details;
2) whether any policy is in place in this regard; if not, why not; if so,
to what extent does such a policy involve (a) taxi associations and
(b) the banking sector;
3) whether the Government will undertake an audit of the number of such
taxis sold thus far; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant
details;
4) whether the Government has any information of the total number of (a)
taxis currently on our roads and (b) lives lost in accidents involving
taxis of this nature; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant
details?
CW68E
REPLY:
The Minister of Transport:
1) The Department of Transport (DoT) has not formally discussed this
matter with the banking sector or the relevant retailing car industry
and taxi associations, because a technical team has been set up to
deal with the illegal conversions of minibus taxis. This team
consists of members representing the National Association of
Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), the South African
National Taxi Council (SANTACO) and the Banks.
In terms of the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (Act No 93 of 1996),
the conversion of goods vehicles to passenger carrying vehicles is a
permissible act which requires conformance by the South African Bureau
of Standards (SABS) and regulation by the National Regulator for
Compulsory Specifications (NRCS).
This process can only be carried out by a registered Manufacturer
Importer Builder (MIB). No individual citizen is authorised to
conduct modifications to a vehicle.
The Taxi Operator purchases the modified vehicle, ready to be used as
a taxi from the dealership. The MIB follows the necessary process of
getting homologation done at the SABS and then gets the Taxi
Recapitalisation Programme (TRP) certification from the NRCS.
Thereafter the MIB converts as many vehicles that the market may
require. This is the legally accepted approach.
However, there are unscrupulous companies that have illegally
converted vehicles without following the approved process and do not
have the legal documentation that grants them permission to do these
conversions.
2) This process is covered in the Road Traffic Act.
3) An audit has been conducted on the number of vehicles that have been
converted and the details are attached as Annexure A.
4) (a) The total number of taxi on the road are 135 894.
(b) In 2008 there were 323 taxis involved in fatal crashes and 356
were recorded for 2009 and this reflected an increase of 10% over the
period.
There were 457 fatalities recorded in 2008, and 432 fatalities were
recorded in 2009. This indicated a decrease of 5.4% over the period.
