A dispute with his boss over a salary increase opened Dumisani Mpanza's eyes to the reality that he would never get rich working for someone else. That was the revelation he needed to start his own taxi business.
Mpanza, now 63, was 28 years old when he and his colleagues started complaining about their pay. They worked for a company that was producing welding machines.
Pushed to the corner, the boss told Mpanza and his colleagues the truth about working for someone.
“He said to us ‘I am not paying you to be rich’. I was really offended because I always wanted to be rich,” Mpanza said.
From that moment on, Mpanza began thinking of new ways of making money. His background was humble as his parents were farm dwellers in Utrecht, northern KwaZulu-Natal. As a child he had witnessed his parents work very hard for the white man and still had nothing to show for it. He had quit school at the age of 21 while he was doing Form 3 (grade 10) because he had impregnated two girls in his neighbourhood and he needed to take care of his children.
The challenge was that if my taxi breaks down, it took at least two days for me to fix it because I was working for the white man. I realised that if I focus on what was giving me money I could make more.
He started observing how his cousin, who was already in the taxi industry, was doing.
He then bought his first taxi, a second-hand Toyota Super 10 for about R5,000 in 1985. He got a reliable driver who could operate it even though it had problems with the engine and gearbox. The taxi was operating in Katlehong. With the little he made from the one taxi, he was able to fix it. He then bought another one in 1987 but continued to keep full-time employment. Back then, each taxi would cash in between R250 and R300 a day. Seeing the money coming from the two taxis, he resigned from work in 1988.
“The challenge was that if my taxi breaks down, it took at least two days for me to fix it because I was working for the white man. I realised that if I focus on what was giving me money I could make more. My wife was able to agree with me to leave as she could see all the things I had been able to buy with the money from the taxis,” Mpanza said.
After leaving, he used some of his payout to buy another Toyota Super 10, which did not need any fixing. He gave this vehicle to his first driver, the late Thami Sibisi, who had been faithful to him. He instructed Sibisi to save money so that he could ultimately buy a taxi of his own.
When Mpanza had five taxis, he asked Sibisi to get off the road and become a permanent mechanic for his fleet. Mpanza then topped the money that Sibisi had saved and the now mechanic was able to buy his own taxi.
With a decent fleet and a permanent mechanic, Mpanza was able to acquire land in Nyanyadu, about an hour from Utrecht where he built a home for his family.
He has also been able to buy cattle, about 50, which has earned him respect in his community. There is now a second generation of people who have made it in life through the money he got from the taxis.
Two of his sons, Bongani and Bonginkosi, also own taxis. The other son, Thulani, studied criminology at the University of Zululand and went on to start a construction business.
Mpanza is grateful to have survived for such a long time in an industry that has rampant violence.
“I have tried my best to avoid taking positions in taxi associations as leaders become the first target. I only got involved in taxi leadership very late in my career.
“When I began in the taxi industry, we used to bury one person in a year or even five years. Today, we bury taxi owners on a daily basis. I think the government was really strict in giving permits. That limited the number of taxis competing on each route. Today, it is just floodgates. Anybody can get a taxi on the road and that causes conflict,” he said.
Mpanza is now treasurer of the National Taxi Alliance but plans to retire at 65.
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