The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) has again raised concerns about the growing number of illegal seven-seater vehicles
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The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) has again raised concerns about the growing number of illegal seven-seater vehicles operating as public transport.
The organisation raised the issue during a meeting with North West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi, MEC for Community Safety and Transport Management Wessels Morweng, and provincial transport officials, during which it discussed several challenges facing the taxi industry.
"The proliferation of seven-seater vehicles operating illegally remains a major concern, not only in the North West Province but nationally" the organisation said.
Last year, IOL reported that Santaco warned about the rise of illegal seven-seater shuttle services, saying they are unsafe and take business from licensed taxi operators.
Speaking at a press briefing alongside Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy last year, the then Santaco president Motlhabane Tsebe said the unregulated seven-seater shuttles, often booked through apps like WhatsApp, pose serious safety risks and undermine the formal taxi industry.
"We are deeply concerned by the rapid proliferation of illegal seven-seater vehicles that are operating as shuttle services, especially for long distances. But this one, I think, as we are sitting, we've dealt with the e-hailing," Tsebe said.
"Now there comes this other one that is using apps like WhatsApp to take our members, and these are unregulated operations and operators pose a serious safety risk, and this is where some illegal and criminal activity comes in."
Tsebe called on law enforcement and transport authorities to act quickly to clamp down on these illegal services, protect passengers, and ensure that licensed taxi operators can operate safely and fairly.
He stressed that unregulated vehicles not only threaten road safety but also undermine efforts to build a professional, law-abiding taxi industry.
"We need to deal with that because it poses a serious risk through these unlicensed vehicles and undermines a fair transport operation environment. Their growth is well-intentioned, but the risk is escalating into regrettable incidents of violence, and this has to be quelled before they gain prominence."
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