Taxi fares will possibly increase by between R1 and R5 per journey, depending on the region, following a petrol price increase of 67c per litre, Santaco warned on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The taxi-industry will try its best to try and reduce the blow to consumers while keeping operators afloat, South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) spokesperson Thabisho Molelekwa told News24.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know that the economy is struggling which increases the pressure on all fronts for taxi operators. Taxi operators need to navigate increased fuel prices, maintenance cost, paying vehicle instalments while keeping prices affordable,\u201d Molelekwa said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we are proud of the fact that the industry has survived storms in the past, and we are confident that we\u2019ll be able to survive this storm as well. We trust there will be some release soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
In June, the taxi association brought large parts of Johannesburg to a standstill when they demanded that the prices of minibuses be reduced, but Molelekwa said no further protest action was planned.<\/p>\n
\u201cA taxi strike is a last resort, but at the moment all communication channels are open with the transport department and Toyota said they are also trying hard to decrease minibus prices.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2016, a Statistics South Africa report found that 51.0% of South African households are dependent on taxis for transport.<\/p>\n
The \u2018Measuring Household Expenditure on Public Transport\u2019 report found that 66.6% of the population spent more than 20% of their monthly income on public transport.<\/p>\n