TAXIS were once regarded as coffins on wheels carrying passengers.
This is because taxis were seen as the biggest contributor to road deaths. But fast forward to 2024, these deaths by taxis continue to drop under the campaign, Hlokomela.
Santaco national spokesman Bafana Magagula said this on Tuesday, 2 April, during a media briefing in Randburg, Joburg.
This was to reflect on the efforts undertaken by the taxi industry over the long weekend to ensure customer service and road safety while also reducing road crashes in Gauteng.
According to Magagula, since the launch of the Hlokomela campaign in 2010, it has slowly grown, attracting more partners and limiting road accidents.
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It was through this programme that the council was able to communicate in the language that both the taxi driver and owner were able to understand.
"It was all about the rebranding of the Arrive Alive campaign that will draw the attention of drivers and taxi owners so that the industry can own road safety, and that's how we birthed Hlokomela in Limpopo in 2010.
"We've achieved a lot. If you go to the statistics today, four years ago the taxis contributed 6% to fatalities. We didn't like the word 'contributing to the fatalities, which meant killing,' so we worked hard and preached the gospel. As a result, since last year, we've reached 3%," Magagula said.
Also present at the briefing was the Gauteng Transport and Logistics MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, who said she has seen the efforts by the taxi industry to stop deaths on the roads, and their efforts don't go unnoticed.
She said that by reducing deaths, motorists can save the future of the country.
"When there's an accident, we are affected socially and economically. We are losing a doctor who can cure an illness, and we're losing an engineer who must help us build more trains.
"So, it's our role to ensure that our behavioural patterns on the road change," Diale-Tlabela said.
Santaco Gauteng chairman Midday Mali said the industry must work on being a 0% contributor to deaths.
"We can never say we are satisfied because we will relax. Our aim is to get to 0% with road facilities in the province. The more we lower the deaths, the more we will save the cities money to invest in our programmess," he said.
Gauteng Traffic Police spokesman Sello Maremane confirmed that 20 people died on the provincial roads over the weekend.
He said the major causes of road crashes include reckless and negligent driving, speeding, driving while speaking on cellphones, driving in the yellow lane, unsafe overtaking, as well as driving too fast.
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