No job losses due to BRT

2009-04-20 16:11

Johannesburg - No jobs will be lost as a result of the bus rapid transit system, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe told a taxi summit on Monday.

"I want to state emphatically at the outset... government guarantees no loss of legitimate jobs and profits among those who make the shift into the BRT systems," he told delegates at the SA National Taxi Council's (Santaco) BRT Summit at Gallagher Estate in Midrand.

He however added that the government had a "responsibility to transform the public transport experience.

"Government is firm that we need to change in order to be sustainable and equitable and user friendly. No change is not an option," he told delegates, who had given him a lukewarm reception.

The taxi industry was the "nucleus" of the BRT system.

He was speaking ahead of ANC President Jacob Zuma's address.

Zuma was welcomed to the summit to the sound of his signature tune Awulethu' Mshini Wami, played as he stepped onto the stage after Radebe.

Earlier Santaco president Andrew Mthembu called for the government to halt the plan completely.

'Assist us... or we will fight'

"We are appealing and pleading... for us to meaningfully engage with this [BRT], let this thing come to a halt completely," he said.

"We are here today to deal with the issue of bread and butter... all we are asking is for someone to assist us in protecting our bread... but if not, we will fight."

Mthembu said the industry's plight had worsened over the last 14 years.

"For 14 years with a thorn in our flesh we have been limping, not embracing the fruits of democracy... we don't want hand-outs, all we want is to protect that which we started."

Before the industry could recover from the controversial taxi recapitalisation programme the BRT system had been thrust upon it, he said.

"We took it (taxi recapitalisation) by faith... and two years down the line, when 80% of taxis are supposed to have been scrapped, we have only scrapped 22 000," he said.

Santaco was concerned that the government had asked the taxi industry to register its routes and then proceeded to place the new bus system on those same routes without consulting it.

Mthembu also dismissed reports that the industry would boycott Wednesday's election.

"We are going to vote," he said.

- SAPA