Commuters say that they will have to way up their options of whether it is time to walk to work as some feel they can't afford the 25 per cent increase in the fare.
Phakama Counter from Thembalethu understands that the continuously rising price of petrol is the reason for the increase in the fare. "Now that I must pay R10 per trip twice a day I will have to budget R100 per week for taxi fare. I feel sorry for those that require two taxi trips to get to work as they will now spend R800 per month on travel costs alone.
"To be honest we can't just work for taxi fare. I know of people that are now considering walking to work or at least walking one of the legs to save the taxi fare."
Her friend, Portia Fanelo, feels that the drop in the value of the rand is the primary cause of the higher fuel price. "If the rand doesn't stabilise soon the situation will deteriorate even further."
According to Tom Queba, a taxi operator from Parkdene, the R8 per trip fee structure was applicable for nearly four years. "As an industry we are price sensitive but we just couldn't continue any longer operating without a price adjustment. To run a Toyota Quantum taxi vehicle the AA rate is R5,50 per km. We were falling too far behind."
The current spate of retrenchments and businesses closing in George means "that we have fewer commuters using our services.
"The taxi industry has good news for the commuters as our industry is undergoing a transformation process locally. Watch the press for details."
The internal pricing mechanism used by some of the operators to rationalise a price increase has not been completed therefore the prices on some of the routes have not been adjusted as yet. "By the end of the month we should all be in line again."
Taxis standing idle at the rank mid-morning
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