Johannesburg — The taxi industry is important for the integration of the country's public transport system, says Transport Minister Jeff Radebe.

The minister was addressing the Top Six Taxi Association conference held in Johannesburg earlier this week, which discussed issues relating to the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme, including the progress made thus far and the challenges identified.

Mr Radebe explained that it was the collective duty of government and the industry to ensure that the taxi industry was "not caught with its pants down" at the most critical moment, when the country hosts the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

"It can't be business as usual - not with the 2010 World Cup on our doorstep; not with the escalating number of passengers dying on our roads; not with the barbaric acts at Bree and Hendrick Potgieter Streets [taxi violence] - it surely cannot be business as usual."

The minister said the country's public transport depended solely on how government and the industry mastered the art of "commuter being the king"; the regulation of the industry and most importantly the recapitalisation of the ageing fleet.

Mr Radebe also stressed that it was clear that safety within the taxi industry continued to be a big challenge.

"The ageing and unreliable taxi fleet continues to pose a serious threat to all of us - but not for too long. Honestly, we also cannot continue to lose well-deserved sleep over unnecessary destructive competition that continues to haunt the industry.

"While it is obvious that the deregulation of the transport sector in the 80s brought all these challenges, let us not use this reason as an excuse especially where things are within our immediate control," he told the gathering.

It is against this background that the taxi recap programme has proven to be a major catalyst in transforming the taxi industry, he explained.

Through the Taxi Recap, government has already scrapped more than 9 400 old taxis and subsequently paid out more than R480 million in scrapping allowances to taxi operators.

"With five years to go, it seems to me the ageing taxi fleet will - sooner than later - be a thing of the past.

"With these figures, the debate has totally shifted from justifying what the Taxi Recap is, to taxi operators scrambling for the available scrapping dates especially those in possession of great grandfathers of the old taxi vehicles - if there is such a thing," he said.

The minister added that government had heeded the industry's call on the affordability of the new taxi vehicles.

"Working together with the industry, the banks and manufacturers, we have been able to develop a financial viability model that indicates that new taxi vehicles are indeed affordable.

"But it must be kept in mind that the affordability is to a large extent determined by such factors as competition, various products by financial institutions, and most importantly the ability of the industry to negotiate better prices by using its buying power," he explained.

The Taxi Recap also presented government with an opportunity to regulate the industry through the issuing of operating licences by the Operating Licensing Boards (OLBs) to confront destructive competition within the industry, Mr Radebe said.

He commended the OLBs for having been able to approve more than 80 000 applications for operating licences, from the 114 000 applications being processed.

"Without a doubt, these licences are a cornerstone in ensuring the implementation of the route rationalisation process," he said.