Johannesburg - The SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) elected its new president just before midnight on Monday.
Abner Tsebe, who is also the chairperson of Tshwane Rapid Transit’s board of directors, was elected the new president of Santaco, replacing two-time president Phillip Taibosch.
He started by saying that the taxi industry was its own worst enemy.
Newly elected President of SANTACO Abner Tsebe shaking hands with his newly elected leadership pic.twitter.com/hAawLKPsUj
— SANTACO (@SA_Taxis) May 10, 2022
Tsebe’s message to delegates who attended the 6th national elective conference in Sun City was simple: stop the violence.
He pleaded with taxi operators to stop resorting to violence to resolve disputes over taxi routes.
He also committed to working on achieving increased representation for women in the taxi industry.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula attended the conference and reiterated the importance of formalising the taxi industry.
He said: “We remain on track to achieve formalisation of the industry both in terms of entrenching democratic practice from association level to the national council and in terms of commercial activity.
“We can no longer afford protracted conversations but should have a singular focus on implementation.
“The key commitment we have made in this regard is to enable partial self-regulation where Santaco plays a key role as a custodian of the Standard Constitution and Code of Conduct with a mandate to regulate conduct of members and associations.”
The taxi industry continues to play an important role in South Africa’s economy, with approximately 200 000 vehicles on our roads employing about 300 000 drivers and at least another 250 000 people who play the role of either working as washers, vendors or taxi marshals within the industry.
IOL