“No one can under-estimate the importance of this Conference. It often happens that people much too easily describe events as being 'historic'. But I think we can say today that the discussions you will be having here - and the elections you will be holding of a democratic national leadership body - can truly become a historic turning point for your industry.

Everything lies in your hands over these next three days, you have come so far, and the potential benefits that lie ahead are so great, that there can now be no turning back. We must achieve unity here this weekend and show that we are ready to become a model transport service provider to our people.”

The remarks of the Deputy President were synonymous with the resolutions taken during the Conference proceedings which among others included the promotion of democracy, accountability and unity.  When SANTACO launched its TR3 2020 strategy on November 03, 2010 I could hear the remarks of the Deputy President freshly echo in the room of assembly in Midrand and for that, I knew that the taxi industry had made strides in its pursuit of the vision that founded SANTACO.  But I wouldn’t want to mislead South Africa saying the launch of the TR3 2020 strategy was a bed of roses for my leadership and the one that preceded me.  In fact it was the words of the first President of this organization, Mr Tom Muofhe during his maiden speech; “But many challenges still lie ahead” that translated into the theme for motivation in striving for even greater heights.  

It is these words from the founding President that will espouse our celebrations in September this year and reflect how much indeed the dream had lived on?  When the present leadership was elected unopposed in May 2010 at the National Conference – the third lap of taxi democracy since 2001 – that moment demonstrated the height of business maturity in the taxi industry and our survival of the challenges and problems we have encountered in the past.  Furthermore, the same Conference ushered a new era of doing taxi business when they adopted the TR3 2020 strategy as the roadmap to CHANGE.  Much has been said and shared about the strategy, which as overwhelmingly accepted by our Conference, received warm support from our government and the South African society.  It is at this moment that as the taxi industry, we can confidently recite the NTTT recommendations, for we know now with deep conscience that we have not sold out on the aspirations of the founding fathers of our business.  I forever worship their courage and wisdom.  Their pursuit to provide a service that is affordable and reliable is still entrenched in our culture of business and as we moved into a new era of doing business differently by being solution-driven, their principles of taxi business remain unchanged.  The strategy by the pre-democracy regime to segregate South Africans into racial classes that started the taxi industry has ironically entrenched the industry as a connection point between them.  This matchless role of the taxi industry is witnessed in the call by the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for member countries and especially the African continent with our large continent and population to raise transport in almost all our development decisions.  Primarily because such decisions on development if not considerate could translate into high transport costs that consequently would suppress socio-economic satisfaction (visits to work, school, recreational facilities, church, etc) as recognized in the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology in the SADC region.  It observes that among others; transport functions have a regional and global character and are a prerequisite for the promotion of economic growth and development and the improvement of the quality of life and social interaction of all their citizens within the region, continentally and internationally.  For South Africa our TR3 2020 strategy which unknowingly predicted by the then Deputy State President Honourable Jacob Zuma now presents the very model transport provider that our sister SADC countries enjoy many lessons from.

Hence in light of the launch of the Decade of Action on Road Safety by Minister Honourable Sbu Ndebele – a clarion call to act in partnership with all stakeholders in drastically reducing the road fatalities and crashes by 50% in 2020 – SANTACO immediately intensified the Hlokomela campaign with the theme; “A decade of Hlokomela”.  Perhaps it is here that I must thank the Minister of Transport for the confidence he demonstrated in our newly found roadmap called the TR3 2020 strategy.  His support has alone given impetus to our course and belief that we can indeed lead the CHANGE we want to see in our business.  The road travelled to this far and his witness of the self-realisation of the taxi industry through the 2020 vision, makes him a proponent of lasting CHANGE our society requires owing to the socio-economic inequalities that will still endure.  We therefore remain seriously committed to this effort as the taxi industry and again we call on the commuting public and the general population to talk to us and tell us about our service.  Remember that together, we can bring meaningful change and improvement to the service that the taxi industry offers in your life.   This reminds me of the words of the late Minister of Transport Mr Dullar Omar who on behalf of government led the unification process of the taxi industry when he said at the Conference; 

“Comrades, you would have seen the role of government in this conference and I want to explain that. The best analogy I can use is that of a midwife. The midwife is called to deliver a child. She can play either a good or a bad role. If the midwife does not do his/her job properly, then the child might be stillborn or the child may be deformed. If the midwife does his/ her job properly, a good, healthy baby might be born. The role of government has been the role of the midwife, to help you to revamp to this organization which represents the taxi industry. I hope that you recognized that we may have made some mistakes as we went along. I hope that at the end of the day, when you go home, you will say to yourselves we have been a good midwife. The child looks healthy and it is now your duty to look after that child and make it grow up. The time has come to cut the umbilical cord. In your next conference whoever comes will be through your invitation, because this is your organization. The time has come for me to say to you that at a certain level our job has been done. It is now over to you. You must make sure that you look after this child and ensure that it grows up to be a strong healthy organization. That is your responsibility.”  

These remarks of the Minister who regrettably has not lived long enough to realise the fruits of his government’s work, that compressed us between a rock and a hard place as we strived for unity, stability and the promotion of democratic principles in the taxi industry.  May his soul rest in peace.  At the 2010 National Conference in Sun City, the role of a midwife was rewarded with the analogy of the life cycle of a butterfly once the caterpillar has transformed into a pupa – this is where a remarkable process occurs transforming the contents of the pupa into an adult butterfly. Like when the butterfly hatches and push the case open finally pulling itself free from the case and ready to fly, SANTACO had 2 years of these critical butterfly stages of consultation and development of its TR3 2020 strategy that in 2010 gave it wings to fly.  The book of 1 Corinthians 13:11 has given us this wisdom.

Back to the subject matter of the coming celebrations and in conclusion,  as this Anniversary reminds us of the unleveled road we have travelled thus far, we move on straight up and ready to write our own history in our own language.  This is expressed transparently in our theme “A backward glance with a forward outlook”.  It is a moment of self-introspection blended with hopes of a better tomorrow that has already begun.  Motivated by the principles of the Hlokomela campaign, the taxi industry has now not only created a platform for interaction with the commuting public, but mainly afforded them a right to tell us what “customer service” means to them.  They too have their story to tell and at the Anniversary, their voice will not disappear into the festivity.  It is on this note that I wish to extend an invitation to you the user of our website, our commuters and all our stakeholders to participate in these celebrations for you are surely to be heard.   A webpage will be launched on our website to provide for this interaction and participation and I am looking forward to your comments.  I therefore urge all those who will descend the Durban shores for the celebrations to do so with the same degree of enthusiasm shared by the taxi operators of 2001.