06 Feb 2022

Kanye Taxi Association says its members were running at a loss due to a number of different factors.

In an interview recently, Kanye Taxi Association chairperson, Mr Oteng Mae highlighted that various reasons such as increase in prices of services offered by department of road transport and safety, increase in fuel prices, illegal transport operators as well as increase in public transport fares, had negatively affected their operations.

All these price adjustments, he said came during COVID-19 pandemic which had also affected their business. “A lot of our customers have lost their jobs during this period, some have closed their businesses, which made it difficult for them to continue using our services,” he said.

He stated that some of their customers had resorted to use taxis only in the morning when they go to work and in the afternoon, they just walk home, while others had completely stopped using taxi services.

“Seven pula is a lot to most of our customers but it was time to increase fares looking at all the increments we are faced with, however this had also negatively affected our business instead of bettering it,” he said.

Mr Mae highlighted that the little they make, was just enough for petrol and if it was time to renew their licenses, permits and acquire other services, they struggled.

He explained that before COVID-19, they used to save some money, adding that at the moment it was not possible to do so. “In other words, we are currently doing charity work, we struggle to take care of our families like before,” he lamented.

He said some of their colleagues, who were hired to as taxi drivers had returned them to the owners, since the little they make goes to the owners, petrol and other expenses, while they would then be left with nothing to take home.

Illegal transport operators, he said were also an obstacle in their operations, noting that they had realised that there were a number of such in the village.
Further Mr Mae said there were a lot of unauthorized cars transporting customers and they were not subjected to the fees we were expected to pay such as for permits and taxi licenses.

He warned that most of pirating vehicles were not tested to carry the public, hence putting passengers’ lives at risk, adding that they also overload, citing those who transport school children especially with small cars. Therefore Mr Mae advised the general public to use authorized public transport, as illegal ones put their lives at risk, and appealed to relevant authorities to find ways to curb the situation.

Mr Mae indicated that it was important for all parties involved in the sector to consider all factors before implementing any changes.
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There should be thorough consultations especially with us on the ground, before making changes that have the ability to disrupt our businesses,” he said.

For his part, taxi operator, Mr Otlhomilwe Kgautlhe said that they were struggling to make ends meet, attributing that to all the changes made, noting that these increments were put in place at the wrong time of COVID-19 pandemic.

“Everyone is negatively affected financially by this pandemic, the authorities could have waited for the economy to recover first,” he added.
Mr Kgautlhe said he believed that there was still time to rectify the situation, noting that all concerned parties could come up with a solution that would favour both taxi operators as well as their customers. ENDS