Quantum leap in cost ‘prohibitive’

Owners losing taxis and want lower prices

The thrill of driving a new vehicle to attract more commuters has driven some taxi owners to near bankruptcy.

Simon Mnotoza, 50, from Evaton, south of Johannesburg, is one of them. His vehicle was repossessed in 2012 and his name blacklisted a few months after buying it. He could not keep up with the R7 600 instalment and had to apply for debt counselling which reduced it to R2 000. The financier, SA Taxi Finance (SATF), deemed this too little.

According to taxi owners, SATF has lenient application requirements which do not require credit checks. However, it has high interest rates of up to 28% because of industry risks.

Last week, thousands of taxi owners blockaded major highways in Johannesburg asking for solutions to the current funding available for the industry.

Mnotoza, who has been in the business for 18 years, bought old taxis.

“I make around R9 000 a month from one taxi. I pay my driver R3 000, R600 rank fees, R4 000 on petrol and more money on tyres and other repairs. At the end of the month there is little money left for me to survive.”

A Quantum costs around R450 000, SATF proposed a 3% reduction in interest, but the SA National Taxi Council rejected this, threatening a national strike next month. Sowetan could not get comment from SATF by the time of going to print.

/ KABELO M O KO E N A Taxi owner Simon Mnotoza says operators want to buy the Toyota Quantum, but the high costs involved make the vehicle difficult to afford.