Responding in writing to a question by Democratic Alliance Member of Parliament Christian Hunsinger, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters has indicated that 59 029 taxis have been scrapped since the inception of the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme (TRP) in October 2006.

Of these, 13 235 originated in Gauteng, 7 270 in Mpumalanga, 7 091 in Limpopo, 7 060 in the Eastern Cape, 6 874 in the North West, 6 482 in KwaZulu-Natal, 5 646 in the Western Cape, 4 712 in the Free State and 659 in the Northern Cape.

Peters added that a projected 7 500 vehicles would be scrapped in 2014/15.

The TRP is an intervention by government to bring about safe, effective, reliable, affordable and accessible taxi operations by introducing new taxi vehicles (NTVs) designed to undertake public transport functions in the taxi industry.

The NTVs feature enhanced safety requirements, such as rollover bars, seatbelts for all passengers, a maximum speed limit, minimum seat sizes, a sophisticated braking system and reflective warnings markings.

All legal taxi operators in possession of valid operating licences linked to a legally registered taxi issued by an authorised operating licensing board qualified to participate in the TRP.