JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's newly gazetted National Land Transport Amendment Act is expected to transform the sector by improving commuter safety, promoting non-motorized transport, and integrating different transport modes, an analyst said.
Gazetted by the Department of Transport on Sunday, the Act formally recognizes e-hailing as a category of public transport. The move seeks to address systemic challenges and long-standing tensions between South Africa's dominant minibus taxi industry and digital ride-hailing platforms.
Independent analyst Sandile Swana told Xinhua by phone that regulating e-hailing will help transform the transport sector and improve commuter safety, adding that the Act will also provide legal recognition for e-hailing services, safe waiting areas, and safeguards against taxi route conflicts.
"Municipalities and provincial governments will have to make sure that there are safe places where, formally, these e-hailing services can park. The Act makes it clear that these routes are not exclusive to the taxi industry," Swana noted.
The transport department said the legislation "ushers in" e-hailing as an "additional choice" of transport, while also setting strict compliance requirements.
"App developers who permit users to use their apps without an Operating License risk a fine of up to 100,000 rand (about 5,750 U.S. dollars) or up to two years in jail. All apps must also be registered with the regulators," the transport department said in a statement.
Swana added that the Act defines the roles of national, provincial, and municipal governments, including the types of permits each may issue and mechanisms for coordination to ensure an integrated, safe transport system.
"This has been a much-awaited Act, especially in the face of recent violence towards e-hailing, with the Act requiring the installation of panic buttons in e-hailing vehicles to protect commuter safety and enable faster emergency response," said Swana.
The transport department added that it will begin workshops next week to brief sector operators on the new law.
Clashes between taxi operators and e-hailing drivers have escalated in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, with incidents of shootings and arson. In August, a 27-year-old e-hailing driver was shot dead and his car torched outside the Maponya Mall in Soweto, Johannesburg. ■