Santaco to increase taxi fares in July

The organisation’s leadership met with Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula on Thursday to discuss the financial impact of the lockdown on the industry and their frustrations with the administration of the Covid-19 taxi relief fund.

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This comes after Alexandra Taxi Association (ATA) announced that they would be scrapping the proposed 172% fare increase on their routes.

Santaco spokesperson Thabisho Molelekwa says the increase in July will be fair to both commuters and taxi drivers.

"In the meeting with the minister, Santaco presented to the minister four issues that has to be reconsidered if government is committed to seeing the taxi industry survive the lockdown suppression on the industry. 

"Since day one of lockdown, the taxi industry has been operating under severely constrained conditions forcing some operators to park their vehicles, yet by 1 July 2020, banks will expect every operator to pay their monthly instalments.”