WeeklySA_AdminNO BUSINESS:Taxi owners can’t pay instalments, face bank vehicle repossessions
By Vusi Xaba
Members of the Witwatersrand African Taxi Association (Wata) in Soweto are scratching their heads trying to figure out how they are going to pay monthly instalments for their vehicles after operations were halted by the closure of Jabulani mall following a recent spate of violence that engulfed KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Jabulani Mall, situated in the heart of Soweto where Wata launches its operations to various parts of the country’s biggest township, has been closed since Monday last week after scores of looters vandalised the facility causing damages estimated at millions of rand.
Wata deputy spokesperson Siphamandla Madinane told Weekly SA Mirror yesterday that the closure of the mall had affected them so hard that they did not know how they were going to pay their monthly instalment for their minibus taxis.
According to Taxi Depot’s website, a minibus taxi finance agent, a Toyota Quantum’s monthly instalment is R14 000. A Nissan Impendolo NV350, according to Group1 Auto’s website, is R6000 a month.
“We have about 400 active members and about 2 500 taxis. One operator is losing about R300 a day on a single taxi. Some taxi owners have one taxi, others have five, some 15”.
The number varies per person and the number of taxis they each own. All these taxis have not been making money since the mall was closed. “Those who try come back and operate end up with nothing since there are no people going to the mall”, Madinane said.
Jabulani Mall was one of the business properties that were extensively damaged and looted by mobs two weeks ago. Although at first the campaign was believed to be linked to the call for the release of former President Jacob Zuma, it later emerged that this was an orchestrated plan of a failed insurrection.
Trucks were also targeted on the major highways, especially along the N2 and N3 between KZN and Gauteng. The trucks were looted and torched, with most incidents in Mooiriver toll plazas in KZN. Some business properties were also set alight. While taxi operators and communities in other areas forged a united front to protect their malls and ensured that no vandalism occurred , Wata and communities around Jabulani Mall were caught napping.
“We did not think that Jabulani Mall could be attacked as it is very close to the police station. After we heard that some malls had been attacked, we printed posters distancing ourselves from looting. But we have learned a lesson to be vigilant should such an incident happen again. It will never happen under our watch. All we want now is for the mall to reopen so that we can go back to work,” Madinane said.
Wata operates routes to and from Jabulani Mall, Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Dobsonville, Protea Glen Mall, Maponya Mall, Mndeni and Johannesburg city centre. “Our commuters are people working at the mall. There also those who receive their monthly pension grants there. If we do not have people going to the mall it means our operations come to a standstill. We do not even know when the mall is going to re-open. We hope it re-opens soon”, Madinane.
