Lessons from South Africa’s Minibus Taxi Industry: Recommendations for Policy Makers

Two new publications delve into over ten years of research focused on South Africa’s minibus taxi industry. A Fork in the Road? The Formalisation of South Africa’s Minibus Taxi Industry and Blood on the Tar, Hope on the Horizon: South Africa’s Minibus Taxi Industry in Global Perspective explore themes such as formalisation, job precarity, regulation, governance, violence, mobility, and social justice. Siyabulela Christopher Fobosi discusses how these two works prompt an important question: whose knowledge is valued when aiming to comprehend and improve African institutions?

---

Why do labels matter?

In South Africa, the minibus taxi industry is frequently described with terms like “informal,” “unregulated,” “illegal,” or “hard to govern.” While such terms capture certain realities, they also highlight significant issues like poor working conditions, exploitation, violence, and conflict within the industry.

These labels may obscure another important reality: that the industry encompasses a wealth of knowledge, organization, and social practices developed by the individuals who work within and rely on it.

Taxi drivers possess deep knowledge of their routes. Operators are acutely aware of the economic pressures within the industry. Marshals managing taxi ranks understand how to coordinate taxis, manage queues, and direct passenger traffic. Commuters know the areas where the system functions well and where it falls short. Communities recognize what insufficient transportation means for their daily lives.

The real question is not whether this knowledge should replace scientific, technical, or governmental knowledge—it should not. The question is why it is frequently regarded as less authoritative.

This brings African philosophy and epistemology into focus, especially concerning the study of knowledge and its validation.

Consider the term “informal.”

Read:
‘Enough is enough’: Taxi industry threatens nationwide action over rising costs
Taxi operators give government 21 days to resolve Intercape dispute

In South Africa, the minibus taxi industry is often placed under the category of the informal economy. Yet “informal” can become synonymous with being disorganized, backward, temporary, or inadequate.

An institution can be informal without being disorganized.

What are your books about?

The books encompass sociology, politics, law, social work, and infrastructure, situating the taxi industry within broader discussions of mobility, inequality, governance, and justice.

In Blood on the Tar, Hope on the Horizon, I argue that the challenges facing the industry cannot simply be viewed as issues of criminality or disorder; they must be linked to historical deregulation, economic pressures, and governance failures.

A Fork in the Road looks at the formalisation of South Africa’s minibus taxi industry in light of its historical trajectory, labor relations, and its engagement with the state.

Rather than viewing formalisation as a purely technical matter, it poses questions regarding what is gained, what is lost, and whose interests are upheld when an informal institution is subject to increased state regulation.

The industry possesses associations, social networks, rules, norms, hierarchies, and coordination systems. Its organization may not always mirror the formal institutions preferred by the state, but that does not imply an absence of structure.

This distinction is crucial.

If policymakers presume that informal institutions are merely incomplete versions of formal ones, they risk overlooking the social systems that already ensure their functionality.

What approach would be better?

Instead of inquiring how to formalize the taxi industry, we should explore what formalisation signifies in this specific African context and identify what existing knowledge within the industry can inform its transformation.

Formalisation programs have not always led to changes in the experiences of workers.

My research examining the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme analyzed its effect on precarious working conditions in Johannesburg’s minibus taxi sector. The program, designed to eliminate older vehicles, demonstrated that merely replacing vehicles or implementing formal regulations does not inherently enhance job safety. A policy can alter the physical landscape of an industry without reshaping its social dynamics.

Institutions are lived experiences, continuously reproduced by people.

Consider a taxi driver with two decades of experience in the industry. That driver may lack formal qualifications in fields like transport planning, economics, or sociology yet has gained substantial insight from their experiences.

They may understand why passengers favor certain routes, how informal agreements function, how disputes are resolved, how regulations impact their work, and why some government initiatives succeed while others do not.

A marshal may have intricate knowledge of rank operations. A commuter may recognize that a structurally finished road is still unusable. An operator may grasp economic pressures not reflected in official statistics.

Such knowledge should not be unquestioningly treated as the truth. Experience may be partial, contradictory, or self-serving. However, it should not be dismissed simply because it does not originate from a university, government office, or consultancy.

Recognizing people as knowers does not entail accepting all their assertions. It means acknowledging their contributions to knowledge production.

What about the question of invisibility?

Even though millions of South Africans rely on the industry for mobility, those who facilitate that mobility often remain largely unnoticed in public policy discussions.

Workers can be invisible not just as laborers but also as knowledge creators.

Their experiences become data collected by others. Their narratives become evidence interpreted by someone else. Their realities are often framed as policy challenges by others.

Mobility is critical in determining access to work, education, healthcare, and other opportunities. A transportation system can perpetuate or alleviate inequality.

To understand this inequality, we must listen to those who experience it firsthand.

African philosophy provides a valuable perspective through the concept of ubuntu, particularly in the context of the work of South African philosopher Mogobe Ramose.

Ubuntu is frequently distilled into the notion “I am because we are.” Its deeper philosophical implications center on relationality: the idea that human existence and flourishing are deeply intertwined with our relationships with others.

This perspective offers a unique lens through which to examine the taxi industry.

What is the key takeaway from your work?

Africa should not solely be a context where theories formulated elsewhere are applied; African realities are also capable of producing theoretical insights.

A Fork in the Road? challenges us to rethink our understanding of formalization, informality, labor, and the taxi industry’s role within South Africa’s economy and society.

Blood on the Tar, Hope on the Horizon connects the taxi industry to broader issues of mobility, justice, citizenship, governance, and structural inequality. Its comparative approach highlights that the challenges faced by informal public transport are not exclusive to South Africa.

Together, these books illustrate that the taxi industry is not merely a transportation issue awaiting resolution.

It serves as a platform from which we can learn about South African society.

It exposes the limitations of simplistic distinctions between formal and informal categories.

It identifies the challenges inherent in state-centered governance approaches.

It reveals how social networks can foster both resilience and inequality.

It demonstrates that workers can be crucial to the economy while being sidelined in institutional terms.

And it underscores the importance of lived experiences in policy design.

African philosophy thus has a significant role to play in the ongoing discussions concerning South Africa’s development.

Siyabulela Christopher Fobosi, Senior Researcher, UNESCO ‘Oliver Tambo’ Chair of Human Rights, University of Fort Hare, University of Fort Hare.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.