Central SA
MEC encourages locals to share plans for taxi industry─── 11:35 Mon, 21 Sep 2020
The Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport will this week engage with stakeholders and civil society through various platforms to ensure participation in the Provincial Taxi Lekgotla.
MEC Sam Mashinini, has called on Free Staters to have their say on the taxi industry ahead of the event in October.
This follows the release of discussion documents by the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, on 20 August 2020, for the National Taxi Lekgotla scheduled to take place on 29 October 2020.
The documents seek to drum up debate from society on ways to develop a blueprint for a sustainable and efficient taxi industry in South Africa.
“I call upon all taxi operators; commuters; all of civil society and each and every Free Stater who believe they can contribute to the formalisation of the taxi industry to participate in our Taxi Lekgotla Public Discourse Platform,” said Mashinini.
According to department spokesperson, Hillary Mophethe, the engagements with stakeholders will vary from meetings with Provincial Task Team members on virtual platforms, Regional Taxi Makgotla, and a Provincial Taxi Lekgotla to written submissions as part of packaging a provincial document for discussion at the National Taxi Lekgotla.
“We wish to invite all stakeholders in the province, representatives of and workers in the taxi industry, commuters, and civil society to actively participate in the Taxi Lekgotla public discourse platform and ultimately the Provincial Taxi Lekgotla to contribute towards formulating a blueprint for the taxi industry of the future,” she stated.
The taxi lekgotla discussion documents released by Mbalula will inform the content of the conversations with stakeholders and civil society. The discussion documents are addressing four major themes, namely:
• Unity and Leadership of the Taxi Industry
• Taxi Industry Empowerment
• Taxi Industry Regulation and
• Industry Professionalisation and customer care
The discussion documents are available on the Department of Transport?s website at: https://www.transport.gov.za/taxi-lekgotla.
Copies of the documents will also be available at the Operating Licensing Board office (OLB) in Bloemfontein and our district offices.
