A troubled journey: the South African government and the Taxi Recapitalisation Policy, 1998-2008

Abstract

This article outlines the South African government’s facilitation of the Taxi Recapitalisation Policymaking (TRP) process which is aimed at regulating the country’s volatile minibus taxi industry. By following a policy stages approach, it highlights why government found it difficult to successfully implement the policy, in particular between 1998 and 2008. The minibus taxi industry became prominent in the 1970s as a result of a loophole in the Road Transportation Act of 1977, which neither defined nor mentioned the word “taxi”. The taxi industry is an important force to be considered by the government in its formulation and implementation of transport policies. However, the industry is plagued by various problems, including a high rate of minibus taxis involved in accidents, un-roadworthy vehicles and violence. It is in this context that the government formulated both the original and revised versions of the recapitalisation policy.