Mayor challenges taxi bosses to rather venture into property
TAXI bosses must start investing in property as the taxi business is no longer profitable.
This was the advice from uMhlathuze Mayor Xolani Ngwezi to taxi bosses at the Santaco (SA National Taxi Council) consultation meeting held at the Bon
Hotel Empangeni on Thursday.
The meeting was convened by KZN provincial Santaco and attended by officials from the
Department of
Transport (DoT), King Cetshwayo District Deputy Mayor Sikhumbuzo Dlamini, Mayor
Xolani Ngwezi, representatives from other municipalities under King Cetshwayo, and various taxi associations operating under Santaco in the region.
Ngwezi also challenged DoT officials to ensure they repair all provincial roads in the city to prevent accidents and loss of lives.
“The city has many hectares of land.
You can approach us to buy or lease the land and build flats for rental. This could assist you in venturing into property businesses," said Ngwezi.
"We have a mega housing project under way behind Life Empangeni Private Hospital. That settlement will have a public tertiary hospital and a private hospital. There will be two schools, petrol stations and a shopping mall.
"I am telling you this because I want you to start arranging yourselves to avoid route disputes when the project is completed. We are also building another mall near the R102 in Ward 23 in the Zidedele area, and there will be a taxi rank there too,” said Ngwezi.
KZN Santaco chairperson Boy Zondi accepted the challenge and encouraged taxi bosses to take advantage of these business opportunities, saying failing to grab them would be painful.
Zondi further explained that the State is responsible for providing people with transportation.
“That is why the government is investing a lot of money in trains, airlines and bus transportation.
Funding
“We are here to engage the district and local municipality to assist us by funding our projects. The national and provincial governments fund our programmes. Both these spheres of government mentioned that, while they are still working on how to subsidise our industry, they can only fund our programmes.
"eThekwini Municipality is also funding our programmes, which is why we brought them here today. I must also state that when the government starts to subsidise us, we will safeguard our business from being taken away from us,” he said.
Zondi also urged taxi associations not to involve themselves in criminal activities, especially at the taxi ranks. “If we are involved in criminal activities, municipalities will stop working with us. The illegal collection of money (Ibhakede) at taxi ranks must stop. We have a police special task team in this region, which
will be here for a while. They were not deployed by us, but by the government to ensure the safety of the community and commuters.
“On Wednesday, we are having a meeting with KZN police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, which is when you will find out what these police officers are doing here.
“We will also reveal an Mpimpa hotline for residents to report all criminal activities,” he said.