Abstract
This article provides an overview of the government’s formulation of the taxi recapitalisation policy which is aimed at regulating the minibus taxi industry. Coupled with a brief social and politico-historical context of the policy, the aim is to highlight the government’s statist conduct in the formulation of the recapitalisation policy. The minibus taxi industry started to fulfil a prominent role in the 1970s as a result of a loophole in the legislation of the former apartheid government. It is currently the most accessible mode of public transport and conveys 65 per cent of the country’s commuters daily. Consequently, the Industry is an imperative force to be considered by the government in its formulation of transport policies. However, the industry is characterised by numerous problems, including a high rate of minibus taxis involved in accidents, unroadworthy vehicles and violence. It is in this context that the government formulated both the original and revised versions of the recapitalisation policy. However, the formulation of the policy has been problematic. The government followed a statist approach during the formulation process when it directed the course of the process according to its interests and without adequate consultation with relevant role players.
Highlights
One of the underlying assumptions of the policymaking process is the promotion of the general welfare and conditions of society as a whole, or at least a certain sector within that society
As regards the TRP, it must be noted that, as the relevant role players in the minibus taxi industry never officially acknowledged that a problem exists in terms of accidents and unroadworthy vehicles, their demands did not play a significant role in forwarding these problems onto the policyagenda as they did not establish the items on the policyagenda since they did not bring it into the policyrealm in the first place
The aim was to highlight how the government acted in a statist manner in its formulation of the policy because it directed the course of the formulation process by assembling its elites to formulate the recapitalisation policy in accordance with its interests – a top-down approach without adequate consultation
Summary
One of the underlying assumptions of the policymaking process is the promotion of the general welfare and conditions of society as a whole, or at least a certain sector within that society. In the second part the article provides the social and politico-historical context of the recapitalisation policy by providing a brief historical development of the South African minibus taxi industry. The former justifies why the government decided to formulate the recapitalisation policy. The final section focuses on specific examples highlighting some of the instances where the government explicitly demonstrated a statist approach in the formulation of the recapitalisation policy. This is done in the light of the theoretical underpinnings as developed in the first part
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