Durban - EThekwini Municipality has proposed drastic changes to its model to operate the multimillion-rand GO!Durban project that could see taxi operators continuing to operate on the routes designed for the project.
Initial plans had suggested that taxi operators might have to give up their licences and receive compensation.
Taxi operators in the Pinetown area have argued in the past that some of their members had been displaced by the construction work, and had lost their customers as well as taxis.
They indicated this week that the new proposal would face resistance as it was tantamount to changing the terms of a contract after it had been signed.
The document, titled “Amended Approach for the Implementation of eThekwini Municipality’s Integrated Public Transport Network (IPTN)”, details the changes that have been proposed to ease some of the frustrations of stakeholders that have led to the delay of the launch of the project.
The document is currently out for public comment. The changes were approved by the council last year. The comment process will end in a few weeks, paving the way for the changes to be confirmed, modified or rejected based on public and stakeholder input.
In its report approving the public participation process, the document records the council resolution that said it noted progress made thus far in the implementation of the City’s IPTN, which mainly outlines the investment into the infrastructural requirements for the IPTN as well as the collapsed negotiations between the eThekwini Municipality and the operators with regard to vehicle ownership.
“That the fact that there is an unresolved deadlock between the municipality and the affected operators on the C3 Corridor, which has brought to a halt all preparations for the start of operations for this corridor from end October 2021 to the present, it can be noted that this has necessitated the formulation of a tactical adjustment to facilitate the implementation process,” it said.
Thami Manyathi, the head of the eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA) that leads the project, said the changes would accommodate all the operators and ensured that no one lost the economic opportunity they were accustomed to, while taking the first step in launching the project. The C3 route running from the Pinetown area is complete and had been scheduled for its launch last year, but that was postponed indefinitely. The city is under pressure to begin operating these routes as it could lose grant funding for their construction if they do not start operating.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks, especially relating to the launch of the C3 route between Pinetown and KwaMashu, had been the dispute between the municipality and the taxi operators over the ownership of the buses that were to be operated on that route. The City wants 51% control of the buses, ceding 49% to the operators, but the operators believe a fair arrangement is the other way around as they are the ones being displaced by the route.
Under the proposed changes, the City said operators subsidised by the City and those who were not subsidised, like minibus taxis would begin operating to kick-start the operation of the routes.
The document on the matters states: “Existing public transport contracts in the City, which are currently funded by the City and through the Public Transport Operations Grant, are to be used to kick-start the implementation of the operations as part of the IPTN.
“Affected existing and unsubsidised operators will not be required to surrender their operating licences or withdraw their vehicles. They will be invited to participate in the existing contracts closest to where they currently operate, and will be provided with incentives to migrate their current unsubsidised services into the contracted space.”
It added that “given that no operating licences will be withdrawn, no compensation is to be paid to operators participating in the contracts”.
Manyathi said the taxi associations that wished to take part in the project would have to form a company. He stated that once the project got going, there would be many changes in order to create uniformity. He could not comment on the reaction by the operators to the proposal, saying the process had just started.
Mathula Mkhize, the spokesperson of taxi council Santaco Durban West (Pinetown), said the new proposal was meaningless.
“We built this business where they are now putting in this system. When we agreed to be part of this, we agreed for one reason only, that there would be compensation. You can’t change the terms of the contract as you go along.”