Govt says on course to scrap 80% of taxis by 2010

The department of transport says it is on course to scrap 80% of taxis by 2010 as part of its Taxi Recapitalisation Programme. About 2 500 taxis have been scrapped countrywide since the appointment of the Scrapping Administration Agency five months ago.

Taxi owners who want to exit the industry or want to buy new approved taxis voluntarily register their taxis to be scrapped and they receive a R50 000 allowance. Owners of unroadworthy taxis, however, are forced to scrap.

Collin Msibi, the spokesperson for the department of transport, says if people see unroadworthy taxis on the roads, they are supposed to be impounded and the owner is referred to the scrapping agency to register for scrapping. He says they are trying to beef up law enforcement to ensure that those particular taxis are taken off the roads.

Emergency services plan for 2010
Meanwhile, emergency services on the continent are gearing themselves up for the Soccer World Cup in 2010. The Fire Emergency Services Africa Conference, Exhibition and Training event currently under way in Pretoria brings together fire and emergency services from around the African continent and the world.

Over 300 delegates, 200 exhibitors and over 1 000 people will be exchanging ideas, technologies and information on how best to deal with challenges of the 2010 World Cup. Richard Dyantyi, the local government and housing MEC in the Western Cape, says this is a very critical and crucial aspect of their preparations towards 2010.

Dyantyi says from now on, they need to have regular interactions of this nature as part of preparations. "It is very crucial because we need to be very confident about our state of readiness… It's only when we are able to engage in this manner… about these issues that we find answers to things that we think are impossible, that we can be very confident going towards 2010," said Dyantyi.