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Premier Molefe, MEC Vilakazi, Colleagues, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I am honoured to be with out tonight.

As the outgoing Minister of Transport, it is a special pleasure to as the taxi industry has presented me with some of the biggest challenges in my five years in office.

The taxi industry represents the most dynamic entrepreneurial spirit in our country with perhaps some of its most skelm practices; and that is probably why I have always felt at home with you.

Tonight, however, we meet against the backdrop of tremendous progress in the taxi industry as it moves out of the quagmire of its violent past into a viable business entity and a significant player in our economy.

We have, by no means completed the transformation process, of which the formalisation and regulation of the taxi industry is an integral part.

Furthermore the taxi process cannot be located outside the broader restructuring of the public transport system.

The Moving South Africa strategy, which I will be releasing next month, clearly articulates this alignment and our movement towards regulated competition in the public transport environment.

The taxi industry in this country has played an important economic role in the empowerment of the black majority over the past three decades as well as a significant social role in carrying more than 65 percent of our urban commuters.

The further transformation of the taxi industry into a viable business entity is a key objective in our agenda. It is for this very reason that we have invested so much political will, resources (both human and material) and time to this process.

The formation of the National Taxi Task Team marked a major milestone and underscores our commitment to helping the industry rise from its past as a neglected player in the transport sector.

The acceptance of its final recommendations by government further signified the beginning of a healthy partnership between government and the industry.

Through a comprehensive consultative programme that included public hearings, over the last three years, we emerged with a resounding support for a regulatory framework for the taxi industry.

Flowing from that process emerged a three-pronged agenda that laid a solid foundation for regulation and economic development of the industry.

The last year has seen a focused implementation agenda being put in place to ensure that the taxi industry takes its rightful place within the public transport sector.

Our insistence that the industry must democratise its structures within the acceptable democratic practices is informed by our common desire to rid the industry of illegal and mafia-style activities.

A number of critical challenges remain on the table for both government and the industry to tackle.

While there has been a steady decline of taxi violence over the last three years, this still remains an issue of national concern as we have yet to effectively arrest this phenomenon.

The lessons we have learnt from Operation Thiba in this Province and in Gauteng is that such a targeted enforcement initiative has tremendous potential to arrest violence.

The underlying key to its success has been the co-ordination and co-operation between ourselves, the industry and law enforcement agencies.

We further see our role as the creation of an enabling environment for the taxi industry to recapitalise its assets and strengthen its ability to compete fairly for market share.

The establishment of the South African Taxi Council provides all of us with an ideal platform to interface with the industry in a constructive manner.

It is also critical that the SATACO process does not unfold in a vacuum, but be informed by the Provincial processes that seek to put in place an effective institutional framework for the industry.

In my five years I have learnt a lot from working with the taxi industry and have watched your progress with interest.

With the establishment of SATACO, regulation and the co-operatives, you are about to enter a new phase of your history and it is up to take your place at the table with the other players in the transport sector as an equal player.

I wish you well in the future. With your tenacity and willpower, I have no doubt that you will succeed. I thank you.

Issued by Didi Moyle: PA and Media Liaison Officer to the Minister of Transport

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