Taxi owners given six months to comply with safty standards
2010-03-05 16:15
THE government has given taxi owners and financial institutions six months to fix the illegally converted minibus taxis currently on the roads, Deputy Transport Minister Jeremy Cronin said on Friday.
“We have given them a grace period of six months which lasts from April 1 to September 1.
“We believe this period is more than reasonable to complete the process of converting these vehicles legally,” Cronin said.
He said it cost about R18?000 to convert a panel van into a minibus taxi compliant with the safety specifications.
For privately owned taxis, the owners would have to fork out the R18?000. For those financed by financial institutions, the institutions would carry the costs, Cronin said.
There are currently 2?353 panel vans in South Africa that have been illegally converted into passenger-carrying minibuses and do not comply with new safety standards.
These vehicles are among the 32?000 taxis scrapped and replaced with new ones under the government’s taxi recapitalisation programme.
- SAPA