Mathula Mkhize, Santaco’s Durban West regional chairperson and chairperson of the eThekwini Metro Taxi Council, centre, and Vuyi Majola, head of integrated public transport networks at CityCon Africa, right, speak during a panel discussion on the need for the taxi industry to diversify amid growing e-hailing competition.
South Africa’s minibus taxi operators risk missing out on a multibillion-rand business opportunity by failing to adapt to the growth of e-hailing, a transport specialist has warned. With the market estimated at R26 billion a year, taxi owners are being urged to diversify into smaller vehicles and build businesses that can compete in a changing passenger transport industry.
The issue was raised at the Frank Dialogue on the State of the South African Transport Industry in uMhlanga, where taxi industry representatives, transport experts and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) discussed how the sector could respond to changing passenger demands and growing competition.
Vuyi Majola, head of integrated public transport networks at CityCon Africa, said taxi owners should consider investing in smaller vehicles that could operate on e-hailing platforms alongside their minibus services.
Majola estimated that South Africa’s e-hailing market was worth about R26 billion annually, with approximately 70 000 vehicles and compound annual growth of 17%.
She said minibus taxis and e-hailing services did not necessarily compete for the same passengers. While taxis generally operate along fixed routes, e-hailing offers door-to-door transport and connections to stations and taxi ranks.
“Can the taxi industry participate in e-hailing? Definitely,” she said.
Majola questioned why taxi owners were not investing in smaller vehicles instead of relying exclusively on minibuses.
She argued that operators could generate income from both services, adding that the loss of potential e-hailing revenue had become a source of resentment among taxi owners who believed their passengers were being taken away.
Taxi owners urged to rethink their business model
Majola also criticised operators for failing to pool their financial resources to strengthen their position when approaching lenders.
Using a hypothetical calculation, she said 10 million taxi trips at R15 each would generate R150 million a day, or R750 million over five days.
Despite that potential collective turnover, she said financial institutions continued to regard taxi operators as risky borrowers.
“Government has failed the taxi industry, but also the taxi industry has failed itself,” she said.
Her comments come as the industry faces growing pressure to modernise its operations and improve its financial systems. Santaco has previously highlighted how digital payments could improve access to vehicle finance and business funding.
Majola also questioned whether Prasa’s expansion of its long-distance bus services could draw passengers away from taxi operators, citing the Durban-Johannesburg route as a concern.
Prasa chief executive Hishaam Emeran rejected the suggestion that the agency was taking passengers from the taxi industry.
“Prasa is not stealing passengers. We've been running intercity buses for decades,” he said.
Emeran said Prasa was modernising its long-distance bus services, including Translux and City to City.
The agency unveiled 17 new City-to-City buses in Pretoria on October 15 as part of its fleet renewal programme. Emeran said these were long-distance operations, not commuter services, and were not intended to compete with taxis.
He said Prasa and the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) were discussing ways to integrate public transport.
Taxis, buses and trains should work together to serve passengers, he said.
Taxi industry says transformation has fallen behind
Mathula Mkhize, Santaco’s Durban West regional chairperson and chairperson of the eThekwini Metro Taxi Council, acknowledged that operators needed to change but said progress had been slowed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the devastating KwaZulu-Natal floods.
“We are playing catch-up when it comes to transformation,” he said.
Mkhize said job losses had reduced the number of passengers able to afford taxi trips, while damaged infrastructure had left some routes inaccessible.
Government had also been forced to redirect resources towards recovery rather than industry development.
He said engagement with government had improved and pointed to plans involving integrated transport services and Durban’s delayed public transport programme. However, the industry needed support to turn these plans into viable businesses.
Mkhize argued that the taxi sector had not received the same formal transformation support as other industries, although he welcomed greater consultation with government.
He also acknowledged that violence and disputes over taxi routes had delayed progress. Taxi route conflicts and their impact on operators and commuters have been a longstanding challenge for the industry.
Women and family businesses need greater protection
Mkhize called for changes to the way family-owned taxi businesses are managed, particularly to protect women who inherit operations from their husbands.
“We are transforming into companies,” he said, explaining that wives and children should have greater access to business records and a role in management.
He said Santaco’s women’s desk also handled complaints of abuse and mistreatment.
Mkhize added that changes in government ministers, officials and taxi leadership could disrupt negotiations, with each new appointment sometimes requiring discussions to begin again.
Taxi associations urged to explore wider transport networks
Majola cited taxi associations in Alexandra and Centurion as examples of operators finding opportunities within wider transport networks.
In Alexandra, she said, a taxi consortium provided feeder services connecting passengers with other public transport.
She said similar arrangements could create business opportunities for other taxi associations.
Mkhize said the industry needed to examine its own shortcomings as well as government’s delays, and prepare itself to take advantage of new opportunities before demanding further assistance.
“We know where our weaknesses and our faults are,” he said.