Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has presented to the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) an ambitious plan to save the taxi industry.
The plan includes the establishment of a co-operative bank owned by taxi operators, according to a report in Mail & Guardian.
The idea of a co-operative bank will be presented at a planned National Taxi Indaba by Mbalula as part of his grand plan to empower the taxi industry and create a value chain.
Presenting this plan to the NEC, he said: “Various options are being considered which include either establishing a national co-operative bank owned by the taxi industry or establishing a national private company that will participate in economic activity on behalf of operators.” This would create “empowerment vehicles” that would “ensure economic benefits reach all operators in the industry”.
A spokesperson for the South African National Taxi Council, Thabisho Molelekwa, told the M&G that the issue of a co-operative bank is long overdue in the R8-billion taxi industry.
Molelekwa said at least 1 000 taxis are bought each month. “You can imagine how much the banks are making. There is no form of empowerment and we have wealth that is not in our hands.”