Regulated Set against Unregulated Minibus Taxi Industry in Johannesburg, South Africa—A Contested Terrain: Precariousness in the Making

Siyabulela C Fobosi

doi:10.22158/wjssr.v6n3p303

Abstract

The minibus taxi industry moved from being heavily regulated before 1987 during the apartheid to the period of deregulation in 1987—which led to an increasing number of taxi operators—to the introduction of the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme (TRP) in 1999 with the purpose of transforming the industry. The TRP was—and continues to be—an attempt to respond to the problems and failures of the regulation process. Regulation of the minibus taxi industry is important to ensure that the industry operates according to the laws of South Africa. However, while this is so, there is an increasing number of illegal operators within the industry. This paper is situated in the broader context of my PhD thesis which investigated the impact of the TRP on precarious working conditions within the minibus taxi industry in Johannesburg. Using qualitative research methods, I conducted a total of fifty-eight interviews for my thesis. Results portrayed that most of the minibus taxi operators in the industry continue operating illegally, and thus making it difficult for the state to regulate. Regulation in the industry is sociologically-defined by two categories: social regulations and economic regulations. The industry remains unregulated and situated within the informal sector.

Highlights

The minibus taxi industry in South Africa was established by black entrepreneurs and up to now it mostly serves the black community
It is important to note that regulation does speak to the questions of licensing, route allocation and entry of the minibus taxis. It speaks to questions of the industry being regulated by the Department of Labour (DoL), and this is a necessity for having an impact on the precarious working conditions within the industry
If we look at the role of monitoring and overseeing public transport in the province we don’t necessarily have a mechanism to do that

Summary

Introduction

The minibus taxi industry in South Africa was established by black entrepreneurs and up to now it mostly serves the black community. While the state has displayed a “somewhat withdrawal” in the industry shown through the lack of integration of the industry in the government public transport plans, including the lack of subsidies—it plays a role of regulating entry in the industry through issuing operating licenses and allocating routes. This role is mostly played by the Provincial Regulatory Entities (PREs) (Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport, 2014). It is important to note that regulation does speak to the questions of licensing, route allocation and entry of the minibus taxis. The preceding section on the introduction and background is intrinsically-linked to the following sections on methods and results in so far as they outline regulation versus un-regulation in the context of the minibus taxi industry as defining the existence of precariousness

Methods

Result

Discussion and Conclusion