​By Nokwazi Molefe 
On Friday, 06 October 2023, the Department
of Roads and Transport held an information
session on digitalization of the taxi industry.
This session, a second of this kind, took place
at the Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR) in Tshwane and was attended
by taxi industry representatives. 
The taxi industry conveys approximately 70%
of all commuting public, transporting millions
of commuters daily to work, school and other
places of interest. Through this, it continues to
play an important part in the performance of
province’s economy.
With the province’s economy set to rebound
and grow at a fast pace, the Department has
developed interventions to accommodate this
expected growth by modernising and
corporatizing the sector. 
A task team comprising officials from the
Department, its entity - Gauteng Transport
Authority (TAG) -and the CSIR was constituted
to develop a database of all public transport
operators in the province.
The Department and CSIR have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with
the research institution bearing responsibility
for development of the database software.
It was indicated the benefits of the process
will include common information and
timetables, single ticketing, branding
standards, single point of subsidy, contracts
and fare harmonization, amongst others. 
The session served as an engagement
platform with attendees on what the
registration and/or verification process will
entail, as well as when and where they can
present themselves. The Department indicated
it will be working within the prescripts of the
POPI Act, treating all information with the
strictest confidence. 
CSIR’s transport economist Ms Phindi Bana
took delegates through the workings of the
registration process and outlined the
required documentation.
These are documents all operators/owners
are expected to present when they submit
themselves to the process. 
A number of questions were then raised.
These included those related to the
contentious issue of subsidization.
Taxi operators/owners lamented the fact
that government continues to subsidize the
bus industry while neglecting the taxi
industry.

In his response, Mr. Moss Rabothata -
Chief Director: Public Transport
Operations indicated “the Department
already has a database for the bus
industry, hence it is aware of how many
buses are currently on the roads, how
many are in for repairs etc”. He proceeded
to highlight that through this verification
process, the Department stands to gather
crucial data, to know and understand the
industry better. This, he added, would
make it easier to provide assistance,
financial or otherwise, where possible. 
It was mentioned the Public Transport
Subsidy Policy is before Cabinet for
consideration and approval. This would
mean possible subsidization for the taxi
industry. 
Another issue raised was with
regard to the permits/ licensing backlog,
to which the Department is already
working on a plan to deal with the matter.
Furthermore, over and above the driving
training, delegates requested training in
first aid and technology as the industry is
moving in the digital space.
The
engagements are in line with a roll-out
plan scheduled to resume in December
2023, with registration sites in cities of
Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg, Tshwane, the
Sedibeng and West Rand district
municipalities.