Minister of Mobility

          (1)(a)     The word “taxi” is normally used to refer to a vehicle providing minibus-taxi type services.  A minibus-taxi type service is defined in section 1 of the National Land Transport Act (Act no.5 of 2009)(“NLTA”) as an unscheduled public transport service operated on specific route or routes, or where applicable within a particular area, by means of a motor car, mini-bus or midi-bus.  Such a service is provide for a fare or any other consideration or reward and falls within the broad definition of a public transport service. 

                Reports generated from the Public Transport Regulation System (“PTRS”) shows that there are currently 13446 valid operating licences conferring authority to provide minibus-taxi type services.  Each operating licence is linked to one vehicle.

(b)     It is important to note that the Western Cape Provincial Regulatory Entity (“PRE”) has a statutory responsibility in terms of section 24 of the NLTA to receive and decide on applications relating to operating licences for intra-provincial public transport services.  These are applications for services falling within the boundaries of the province, bar tourist transport services.  The National Public Transport Regulator (“NPTR”) receives and decides on applications relating to operating licences or accreditation of tourist transport services. The PRE is currently performing the functions of the NPTR in terms of Regulations 46 and 47 of the National Land Transport Regulations insofar as interprovincial public transport services are concerned. 

            Applications for operating licences can be submitted physically (by hand) at one of the walk-in-centres of the Western Cape Provincial Regulatory Entity (“PRE”).  Applications can also be submitted via email or via the online citizen portal. 

            Reports generated from the Public Transport Regulation System shows that there are currently 1710 applications pending, relating to local and long-distance minibus-taxi type services.  This includes applications for new operating licences, additional authority, renewals, transfers, etc. These applications are at various stages of the statutory operating licence application and adjudication process.

(c) (i)   When the application is submitted to the PRE, the application is

initiated and a reference number is generated.  However, the application fee can only be paid once the application and supporting documentation have been checked.  Applications can only be processed once the application fee has been paid.  In terms of Regulation 6(3) of the National Land Transport Regulations (2009), the PRE must reject a form that is not fully and properly completed or to which the required documents have not been attached.  Similar provisions are enshrined in Regulation 2 of the Regulations in respect of applications for interprovincial public transport services. The PRE will advise applicants in respect of outstanding documents.  If the required supporting documents are in order and the form has been properly completed, the applicant will be advised that payment can be made on the same day or the following day.  However, some applicants take several days to submit the correct documents, and this can delay the application process.  Some applications are also cancelled after 14 days if the requisite documents are not submitted.

(ii)   In terms of Regulation 8(1) of the National Land Transport Regulations, the members of the PRE must meet often enough to dispose of applications for operating licences within no more than 60 calendar days of the receipt of the application.  This period includes the time to publish the application in the Government Gazette (21 days) to allow persons interested and affected by the matter to submit comments to the PRE in relation to the application.  The application must also be referred to the relevant municipality to provide directions in terms of the approved Integrated Transport Plan within the time specified in the notice, which may not be more than 30 days. 

             Currently the average processing time (from the date of payment to the issuance of the decision letter) for new applications, additional authority, transfers and renewals is 39 days.

2(a)(i)&(ii)       To calculate the total number of legal and illegal taxis operating in the province is a complex exercise.  This will require all municipalities to provide updated survey results showing the registration numbers of vehicles observed at public transport facilities or at roadside monitoring points.  This information must be matched against the PTRS to determine the number of illegal operators observed during surveys.  It is axiomatic that outdated information cannot be used for this purpose given that a vehicle could subsequently have been linked to an operating licence. 

             Unfortunately, we don’t have survey results for all municipalities in the Western Cape and can therefore not determine the extent of illegal operations.  Please note that transport planning is an exclusive local government matter and every municipality is required to produce Integrated Transport Plans (“ITP”) for its area that must be regularly updated.  In terms of the minimum requirements for the production of Integrated Transport Plans, the transport register chapter must include a determination of the total number of illegal operators and the number of vehicles operated illegally.  We can confirm that there are 13446 legal minibus-taxis operating in the province.

(b)       The table below shows the total number of impoundments recorded at the various impound facilities for the past five financial years.  The table shows the impounds recorded for the City of Cape Town area and a consolidated figure for the two provincial impound facilities (George and Beaufort West) and the Drakenstein and Overstrand areas.  Please note that this does not equate to the total number of vehicles impounded given that a vehicle could have been impounded more than once during the period under review.