Transport minister Fikile Mbalula wants the formation of a single new taxi industry body that will replace the current associations that are split between taxi councils.
This proposal is contained in discussion documents that will be released in the coming weeks.
The formation of a bank for the industry and penalties for those involved in violence are some of the proposals that the taxi industry will discuss in a journey towards formalisation.
Mbalula on Thursday launched the Taxi Lekgotla Public Discourse Platform, which invites input to the proposals that the government has to modernise the sector.
A task team will co-ordinate the engagements, which will take place online and involve experts in the field.
Mbalula said one of the proposals to be discussed is how the apex leadership of the taxi industry will be composed. The SA National Taxi Council, formed in 2001, is the current industry representative.
“The discussion will look at models that include making a case for the apex leadership structure to be a council, whose leaders must not be encumbered on associations. We have no intention of elevating or establishing an association to a position of an apex industry representative body,” Mbalula said.
Inputs will be made on whether this council should be a statutory body established through an act of parliament or a professional body mandated to develop and enforce industry standards.
Operating licences, which have been found to contribute to the disputes over routes, as well as the presence of illegal taxis on the road, will be scrutinised.
Mbalula said these operators shrink revenue, provide perverse incentive for conflict and worsen the industry safety profile by employing dangerous tactics to get customers.
The conversations will include e-hailing services and seven-seater vehicles operating on the roads.
The formation of a bank for the industry is also on the table.
“Various options are being considered, which include either a national co-operative bank owned by the taxi industry or establishing a national private company that will participate in economic activity on behalf of operators, or a combination of various models,” Mbalula said.
Severe penalties for those involved in conflict will be debated and how the industry can be accessed by the physically challenged.
An enforceable code of conduct will be discussed, covering flagrant disregard for the law and bad customer service. For decades the taxi industry has been known for poor service, disregard for the law and violence that has left many people dead.
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