Transport and Public Works
With regard to the intention to implement Phase 4B of Go George:
- What engagements took place between him and/or his Department and the Uncedo Taxi Association;
- why did he or his Department not also engage the George Taxi Owners Forum and the George Huurmotorvereniging;
- (a) what is the basis for agreeing to issue operating licences to 60 members of the Uncedo Taxi Association, (b) how were these members identified, (c) why was the lifting of the moratorium on the issuing of taxi operating licences not also extended to members of the George Taxi Owners Forum and the George Huurmotorvereniging and (d) why were members of the other two associations not included or consulted;
- whether these operating licences will (a) be used to operate taxi services or (b) be issued in order to be surrendered for compensation;
- (a) if these operating licences will be used to operate taxi services, which routes have been identified and (b) if these operating licences will be surrendered, what is the compensation to be paid to the operator per licence;
- (a) which operating licence applicants, whose names have been published in the Provincial Gazette, were not on the list of operators approved by the George Council and (b) why are these operators applying for licences if they had not been part of the approved lifting of the moratorium;
- whether all the applicants for taxi permits have vehicles for their operating licences because a taxi permit is combined with a vehicle when applying for such a permit even though the list submitted to the George Council does not provide a list with the vehicles owned by those applicants; if not, how does his Department intend to facilitate the approval of operating permits?
- Since the engagement between the Provincial MEC, National Minister and the Uncedo on 1 August 2019, 18 subsequent engagements were held between Government and Uncedo, 6 of which were Task Team meetings with a delegation from each stakeholder.
- The Roll-Out of Phase 4(B) was initially scheduled for April 2019, however, leading up to this, the George Community Forum (GCF) as well as the Uncedo Taxi Association engaged with the then National Minister regarding their grievances with the impending Roll-Out. The National Minister, previous Provincial MEC and Mayor then met 3 days prior to the Roll-out and decided to postpone the Roll-Out, pending further discussions and resolutions of their issues. In May 2019, the two stakeholders then wrote to the National Department of Transport, detailing their grievances with the GIPTN, prompting myself and the National Minister to engage with the two stakeholders. This meeting took place on 1 August 2019 wherein the political heads then gave a specific directive to the Government Officials to engage directly with the GCF and Uncedo Taxi Association and to resolve all outstanding issues within 45 days of said meeting. At this stage, no other taxi association brought their grievances to the attention of Government. There were also certain members of the GTOF and GHV who were part of the GCF but did not raise any further concerns relating to their association and additional licences.
(3)(a) In 2014 a moratorium was imposed on the issuing of new operating licences in George, given that the GO GEORGE bus service is now responsible for providing public transport services in Phases 1 – 3, and the GO GEORGE bus service was meant to extend to all areas (Phase 1 – 6), within a year of rolling out Phase 1. It has now been almost six years since the list of operating licences was finalised. No new licences have been issued since then (apart from licences for non-commuter type services or “late renewals” following the amendment of the moratorium by George Council during a Special Council meeting on 17 August 2018).
However, with the delay in roll-out of Phase 4A to Thembalethu, a number of unlicensed operators have begun servicing the demand to this area. They have not been able to legitimately apply for an operating licence due to the moratorium, but they have registered with their association (UNCEDO).
It must be recognised that the moratorium on the issuance of new operating licences in George was imposed owing to a planned rapid and full rollout of the Go George service (to be completed in 2015). The protracted delay in the rollout of Phase 4 has been government’s decision, based on various factors that government has had to consider.
However, during this period, it would appear that the demand for minibus taxi services has grown in Thembalethu, consistent with growth
in population in this area. As such, the unlicensed operators are serving a legitimate demand, with the commuters left unserviced (or under-
serviced) had the additional supply not materialised. It is assumed that had a moratorium not existed, additional licences would have been issued to these operators (all of whom are UNCEDO members).
With the rollout of Phase 4 now imminent, government needs to find a fair and reasonable solution to the additional operators providing services to the Thembalethu community, albeit currently unlicensed. A number of other options were considered as to how to acknowledge the investment that current operators have made in their businesses and the service that they continue to provide to the residents of George.
It was resolved that the most viable and reasonable approach was to lift the moratorium and recognise the increase in demand which has arisen in the period since the original APR was closed and the moratorium imposed. It was further resolved that the lifting of the moratorium would be limited to new operators and exclude existing operators that have already elected buy-in or buy-out options for their existing licences and that are providing additional unlicensed services.
(b) A task team was established to review Demand and Supply in Thembalethu. This was supported by a detailed survey conducted of all public transport traffic crossing the bridge in and out of Thembalethu.
A list was then developed of operators who are legitimate members of an Association but who are currently operating on route 880 without an operating licence.
(c) The Municipality had been on the brink of rolling out the GoGeorge service to Phase 4B on 27 April 2019. At that point in time the Municipality had a good understanding of Demand and Supply in all areas of the municipality (other than Thembalethu). All members of GTOF and GHV had been part of the original negotiations and had been adequately compensated through that process, as confirmed by an independent mediator appointed by the national Department of Transport.
(d) The GTOF and GHV have not been excluded. The Minister and MEC tasked their officials to engage the community and taxi industry on specific grievances. The grievances relating to the taxi industry were specific to those operating from Thembalethu, all of whom are UNCEDO members. The formal engagements have therefore been with UNCEDO, although the lines of communication between my officials and GHV and GTOF remain open.
(4) Clause 1.2 of the resolution signed between Government and Uncedo on 30 January 2020, states that Government would support the applications of 60 licences for route 880 in George (Thembalethu to the CBD), subject to the standard processes required by the PRE.
(5) (a) Route 880 (Thembalethu to CBD).
(b) The issue of compensation was originally dealt with and resolved at the task team meeting between Government and Uncedo on 12 December 2019, wherein it was agreed that there will be no further discussions regarding same. However, the issue resurfaced at a Task Team held on 18 February 2020, wherein it was agreed by the parties that although the Roll-Out will go ahead, there will be various Subcommittees formed to deal with specific outstanding issues, one of which was Compensation.
(6) (a) The names appearing in the Provincial Government Gazette are not confined to George applications and include all operators from all areas who have applied for an OL in their respective area. Therefore, not all the names appearing in the Gazette would also form part of the list sent to George Council.
(b) Any operators applying for a licence in terms of the above exemption will still be subject to the standard PRE approval process, which includes verification by the Municipality.
- The Provincial Regulatory Entity (PRE) is a quasi judicial body which regulates and issues Operating Licences according to their regulations and conditions. It was made clear to the Association that although the 60 OL’s will be supported by Government, the PRE will follow their processes and should issues such as vehicles or criminal records become apparent, that the PRE would not grant the specific OL.
