Commuters to dig in deep, as taxi fare hike is on the cards

With the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) set to meet for a three-day national conference in North West this week, the taxi fare hike will be on top of the agenda at this year’s conference.

Taxis are expected to hike prices in the coming months as petrol costs and Covid-19 pressures mount.

Santaco, has previously made a proclamation that, due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, commuters might have to dig deeper in their pockets for the increased taxi fare.

Since the pandemic surfaced in the country back in 2020, commuters opted to go for taxis, with increased dissatisfaction around bus stop facilities, endless bus strikes and rail’s dwindling operating capacity.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) halted its operations following the inception of the National State of Disaster in March 2020.

This severely affected both the local and provincial train operations, where commuters had no choice but to befriend taxis.

As things got out of hand, excessive cases of stolen rail networks and damage to infrastructure emerged during hard restrictions, and the national government announced that it will take time for the rail operation to be fully operational.

In December last year, it was a sigh of relief for commuters as Prasa’s Shosholoza Meyl went back on track, but due to the incapacity of rail network, Prasa had to restrict certain destinations.

Santaco said that, although minibus taxis have continued to grow in popularity over the last eight years and are now the preferred form of transport in South Africa, this doesn’t change anything as the industry has faced severe challenges in their economies.  

“With a number of trips and passenger loads down due to the impact of Covid-19, the industry’s profitability is under strain and further fare increases may be needed,” Santaco said on Monday.