Converted taxis endanger passengers, hearing told

PUBLIC protector Thuli Madonsela heard yesterday that corruption and loopholes in the Road Traffic Act led to the conversion of panel vans into minibus taxis that lacked life-saving safety features.

She was holding a hearing into the conversion of Toyota Quantum panel vans into passenger vehicles.

Panel vans were built to transport goods and were not fitted with safety features such as roll-over protection in case of an accident, she heard.

A converted panel van retails for R40 000 less than a normal minibus.

The hearing was told how cutting out the side panels of the vehicle to fit windows weakened the structure of the vehicle and reduced to zero the chances of survival in case of an accident.

The complainant, former banker Hennie de Beer, said the floor and the vehicle chassis were also weak.

He submitted that the seatbelts were fitted on seats and not on the body of the vehicle, resulting in passengers flying out with seats in a collision.

“I am not saying proper minibus taxis do not kill people in accidents, but there are chances of survival due to the safety features,” De Beer said.

“In a converted vehicle, the chances of survival are diminished.”

De Beer accused vehicle testing stations and licensing boards of failing to effectively manage and implement legislation governing the applicable conversion procedures.

“The lack of effective controls created a breeding ground for deception, fraud and syndication with the ultimate purpose of exploiting unsophisticated taxi owners for huge monetary gains,” he said.

The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, the body tasked with ensuring that vehicles meet safety standards, submitted that the law allowed any private vehicle to be converted, but these vehicles could slip through the cracks and end up being used as taxis.