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SANTACO PRESENTATION TO THE PARLIAMENTARY PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON
LABOUR
POSITION ON NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE
DATE: 10 SEPTEMBER 2014
PRESENTATION CONTENT
1.
INTRODUCTION
2.
BACKGROUND
3.
STATISTICAL INFORMATION
4.
TR3 2020 STRATEGY
5.
SANTACO STRATEGIC PROJECTS
6.
SETTING MINIMUM CONDITION AND WAGES
7.
IMPEDIMENTS TOWARDS COMPLIANCE
8.
CURRENT COMPLAINCE LEVELS
9.
RECOMMENDATIONS
INTRODUCTION

The Taxi industry is the industry in South Africa that remains
the critical pillar of the country’s public transport sector.

Not only is it the most available mode of transport, it is also
the most affordable to the public. It is thus considered the
servant for the majority of urban and rural poor.

The STATSSA Survey, released in June 2014 indicates that
the taxi industry transport at least 70% passengers per day;

When converted to persons, the taxi industry takes 16,5
million commuters per day, and it plays an important role
in the South African economy.

It is critically important that the taxi industry wont exist
without driver and operator relationship;
BACKGROUND ON SANTACO

The Apartheid dispensation and planning processes were designed to
marginalised and systematically exclude black people from the mainstream
economy and economic activities, in this regard the Group Areas Act created
a new problem for black peopled viz, need for public transport emerged.

The taxi industry was developed as a response to the problem mentioned above.

The Democratic government initiated a process of ensuring that the taxi industry
is organised

This was done in the form of the MOU between the then South African Taxi
Council (SATACO), National Taxi Alliance (NTA), Provincial Taxi Councils
(PROTACOS) and government. The structure which was facilitating this
process was called the National Conference Preparatory Committee (NCPC)
led by government.

The purpose of initiative was to create a platform together with government
towards the establishment of a united structure representing all formations within
the taxi industry;
BACKGROUND ON SANTACO CONT……….

The late Minister of Transport by then, Cde Dullah Omar (MAY
HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE) realised that some formations
were operating outside the SATACO Framework and it was
revised in April 2001.

Organisations/Structures involved were the Provincial Taxi
Councils, National Taxi Alliance and government at provincial
and national levels;

All parties committed to bringing about lasting unity within the
taxi industry on the basis of transparency, integrity and the
establishment of a united body on a democratic foundation;

A National Conference was convened which undertook to be
underpinned by the objective of ensuring that all the parties
recognize that the structure is authentic representative body of
the taxi industry;
STATISTICAL INFORMATION – “THE ENGINE BEHIND THE NATION”
REPRESENTATION / MEMBERSHIP BASE
• Over 100 000 members
• Represents over 90% of Taxi Operators
• Major Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Entrepreneurial concern
• Only government recognised industry body
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
• Democratically elected leadership
• Subscribes to corporate governance principles and standards
• Full annual audits and accountability procedures
 MARKET SHARE
• Market Leader - Over 65% public transport market share
• Moves over 15 million commuters daily (Workforce)
• Major contributor to the economy
• Contribute 3,4% to the GDP
• Employs over – 600 000
STATISTICAL INFORMATION
FLEET
• Approx – 200 000 taxis
• Average number of taxis per owner – 2
• No. of trips per passenger per day – 2,3
• Average monthly kilometres per taxi - 8500
• On average 900 – 1400 new taxis are sold a month
• Current fleet valued at approximately – R18 billion
BUYING POWER
• Fuel – R18 billion
• Insurance – R2,5 billion
• Tyres – R600 million
• Manufacturing – R2 billion
• Vehicle Maintenance – R2,7 billion
• Lubricants – R110 million
• Labour costs – R4 billion
• Vehicle Financing – 4,2 billion
TR3 2020 - STRATEGY
Vision
To re-develop and maintain a leading mass
transportation industry moving all South Africans in an
affordable, safe and reliable manner.
Mission
• To empower operators through the maximisation of
development and economic opportunities.
• To provide excellent service to all our customers
•To develop strategic partnerships and maintain stability and
profitability within the transport sector
•To empower taxi operators by ensuring beneficiation
throughout the industry value chain
TR3 2020 STRATEGY - PILLARS
STRATEGIC IMPERATIVES
REPOSITIONING
Repositioning
Sector
Taxi
Transport
Power
Consumer
Shareholder
Influence
Consultation
Decision
making
Approach
Reactive
Pro-active
SANTACO STRATEGIC PROJECTS
 HLOKOMELA CAMPAIGN
 Road safety Campaign (reduce taxi related accident and incidents by 50%
by year 2020)
 Social Responsibility Projects (The organisation supports and fund
various initiatives aimed at supporting and caring for the less fortunate)
 SANTACO TRAINING ACADEMY
 ESTABLISHED IN 2011, To provide training and skills enhancement for drivers,
other employees and operators in the Taxi industry
 Training is provided free of charge to beneficiaries and stipends are paid as a
encouragement and support mechanism
 The Academy is a step towards the professionalization of the Taxi Driver
Profession
 WiFi PROJECT (WITAXI)
 Provision of free broadband access to millions of commuters (inherently from
poor backgrounds)
 Intended to improve our offering to commuters and improve relations between
Drivers and commuters
SANTACO STRATEGIC PROJECTS
 SANTACO Green – Environmentally Friendly Public Transport
 Conversion of Taxis to use greener fuel sources e.g Natural Gas /
LPG
 Intended to reduce our Carbon Footprint, hence ensuring a
healthier nation
 INDUSTRIALISATION
 Establishment of a local vehicle manufacturing plant
 Intend to enhance local content in our value chain and economic
development
 Contribute to empowerment, job creation and economic growth
SANTACO STRATEGIC PROJECTS
 PUBLIC TRANSPORT SUBSIDY
 The taxi industry is the only public transport provider not receiving
subsidy despite being the major transporter;
Government continues to pay subisdy in line with apartheid laws there by
discriminating millions of poor South Africans using taxis
 Despite our various attempts to have the matter resolved amicably, we
are faced with either vto submit or fight; In this regard we will be taking
drastic steps including mass action and approaching courts for relief.
 ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF THE INDUSTRY
 Despite the industry’s contribution to the GDP measured at around 4%
and employing over 600 000 and valued at over R40 billion our members
continue to live under poor conditions. White capital continues to unfairly
benefit and enrich themselves throughout the industry value chain;
 In this regard the industry is preparing itself for major battles against this
monopolies to ensure that our members benefit throughout the value
chain
SETTING MINIMUM CONDITIONS AND WAGES
 The industry has been engaging with different structures such as the




Department of Labour dating back to the initial stages of crafting of the
Basic Conditions of Employment Act;
SANTACO was a key partner during the process of developing the first
taxi Sectoral Determination which was in force from 2005. The
subsequent process towards reviewing the taxi sectoral determinations
was not properly coordinated by the Department of Labour.
SANTACO together with Provincial Taxi Councils in all the Provinces
played a major role in ensuring the taxi public hearings conducted by the
Department of Labour produce positive results;
It must be noted by the Labour Portfolio Committee that the
collaboration that used to be there during the first consultations needs to
be strengthened or revived;
The taxi industry has been fully behind setting of minimum conditions
and minimum wage over the years, and in this case, SANTACO supports
the initiative of setting a national minimum wage. We do however
caution that due consideration should be given to various options
available to achieve an ideal income levels in our society while ensuring
mass employment.
IMPEDIMENTS TOWARDS COMPLIANCE
 The industry should not be seen as a sector that does not want to comply
with labour legislative imperatives;
 It must be seriously noted that the industry has its own dynamics, such as:

Minimum Wage not easy to implement due to the
system of payments like commissions. This creates a
problem of ensuring full employment;

Employers depend on drivers checking's

Drivers use some of the monies to pay for their
personal things such as dry cleaning , lunch, etc;

In fact through this system that is unstructured, the
industry is loosing; lessons learnt during the electronic
fares collections are that, R8 000 to R12 000 per week
was collected compared to the manual collections which
brought between R5 000 to R7 000 per week
CURRENT COMPLIANCE LEVELS
 Current Taxi Sector Determination
CURRENT COMPLIANCE LEVELS
 DRIVERS ARE CURRENTLY PAID AN AVERAGE OF R3500 PER
MONTH ( 81% higher than the determination)
 However drivers take home double the monthly income (above
R7000) when all monies taken by drivers are accounted for:
 Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
 Pilferage (Leakages)
 We are currently over 250% compliant (estimated)
 Admittedly we lack in other areas, and need support
to comply
RECOMMENDATIONS
 Collaboration is sought to ensure that the industry is
capacitated
for purposes of compliance to the Labour
legislative framework such as the Labour Relations, Basic
Conditions of Employment Act, Taxi Sectoral
Determination, UIF, Compensation Act , etc
 Collectively create an enabling environment to ensure
smooth enforcement of policies;
 The industry be fully engaged in determining a suitable and
sustainable minimum wage
 We wish to further amplify our position as organisation that
despite all challenges faced by the industry we are
committed to improving and professionalizing the Taxi
industry, where conditions of employment are of the highest
standards possible.
THANK YOU
CONTACT DETAILS
President: Mr. Phillip Taaibosch
0845588885
Secretary General: Mr. Vernon Billet
0604734437
CEO: Mr Nkululeko Buthelezi
0836612252
Thank You