- Taxi fare from Alexandra Township to increase from R11 to R30
- The South Africa National Taxi Council (Santaco) promises to engage the association on the increase
- Taxi bosses blame the impact of Covid-19 on business for increases
- The increase is expected to kick in from June 15
A massive taxi fare hike is looming for Johannesburg commuters as the operators of one of the city's busiest routes seek to compensate for the Covid-19 lockdown on public transport.
The Alexandra, Randburg, Midrand, Sandton Taxi Association (Armsta), has announced that a trip from the township of Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, will increase from R11 to R30 as from June 15. In a notice to passengers, the taxi association said the increase was due to the government's regulation of limiting passenger capacity to 70%, in a bid to curb the spread the coronavirus.
"This increase is necessary as we are losing revenue and government is not assisting taxi operators," read the notice.
Every day, thousands of people travel between the wealthy Sandton district and the sprawling Alexandra township, which is less than 10 kilometres away and taxis are the main mode of transport.
The provincial office of the South Africa National Taxi Council (Santaco) on Sunday confirmed the planned fare hike, with provincial spokesperson Midday Mali saying the matter will be discussed at a meeting to be held next week. Mali stated that the decision to increase fares rests with individual taxi associations.
"As a province, we are going to engage them on what informed the decision to increase fares...we are due to hold a meeting next week," he said.
In April, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula rescinded his earlier decision of allowing taxis to carry a full load of passengers, allowing taxi's to only carry 70% of their normal capacity. Taxi's are also expected to adhere to physical distancing regulations, with all passengers wearing masks.
Santaco had earlier called on the government to compensation taxi operators with R250 a day for the losses they suffered during the country's Covid-19 lockdown. The industry which is the backbone of the country's public transport system has seen a drop in passenger numbers since the beginning of the national lockdown on March 27, as people stayed away from work.