The taxi recapitalisation programme could be back on track, with government and the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) set to sign a memorandum of agreement this week.
The taxi recapitalisation programme looks like it is back on track, with government and the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) set to sign a memorandum of agreement this week.
The R20-billion plan will see the current ageing taxi fleet replaced by new 18- and 35-seater vehicles.
According to , the taxi council threatened to withdraw because it was not involved in discussions with the manufacturers. Santaco was concerned that it could not give its members information because it was not fully involved in the process. Further details are expected when the agreement is signed.
The new agreement will include a timeline for the recapitalisation programme. The first new vehicles were supposed to have rolled out in June after repeated delays since the scheme was first mooted in 1999. But CARtoday.com reported last month that government now expects the first new taxis to be on South African roads by May next year.
Meanwhile, last-minute negotiations stopped the proposed three-day strike by taxi associations in KwaZulu-Natal. The strike, to protest the recapitalisation programme, was scheduled to start on Monday.
