So there we were, in South Africa trying to catch licensed taxis to get around instead of doing the usual South African trick of driving drunk, my experience was pretty interesting.

Durban was fairly shite although there are cab firms which seem to do a good service within central Durban but don’t try getting back home from Kloof at 2am. Joburg was annoying, the taxis were bangers, it was expensive and promptness is not a word they could use to advertise their business without blatantly lying. Cape Town was brilliant by comparison, there appeared to be an abundance of taxis which seemed fairly well maintained and managed but again I spent most of my time in and around the city bowl and Atlantic seaboard.

There is a very big gap in the market for a well maintained, efficient and safe taxi service in all 3 cities. A gap that is increasingly becoming evident the more people realise that it is just not acceptable to drive under the influence. Unfortunately until this gap is filled there will continue to be a plethora of drunk drivers on the road because public transport simply does not exist in South Africa as a viable alternative.

When a Commission of Correctional Services, a High Court Judge and a Metro Police Chief have recently been caught driving drunk (and crashed) you know we have a problem. Just take another look at that carpark outside your favourite nightclub next time you’re there, if all those cars had designated drivers the nightclub would go bankrupt!

I can’t stand the “don’t worry we’ll have it sorted by 2010″ mentality which currently pervades the entire South African psyche because essentially I am more concerned with 2011, but if somebody does create a successful licensed taxi service prior to the World Cup I have no doubt that it will continue to benefit SA long after the World Cup has left our shores.

http://wozafriday.com/2007/01/16/licensed-taxis-in-sa/