I have taken thousands of trips in metered taxis in Cape Town over the last ten years. In the last year or so I’ve switched to predominantly Uber taxis. Since I can’t legally drive due to poor eyesight, these are my primary ways of navigating the city. I therefore have a very significant interest in the battle between metered taxi companies and Uber. The aim of regulating an industry must ultimately be to serve the public interest. In the case of the metered taxi industry, the aim must be to ensure that a safe, reliable and affordable service is provided to the public, whilst of course ensuring that drivers are working under fair conditions of employment.
Marcus Low
Opinion | 13 July 2015
Starting in September, the Philippi Economic Development Initiative has plans to turn the Philippi area into a “vibrant urban hub”.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 8 July 2015
COSATU and an organisation called Public Transport Voice have criticised Metrorail Cape Town's ticket increases which kick in today, 1 July 2015. Metrorail, however, says the fare increase is unavoidable.
Bernard Chiguvare
News | 1 July 2015
About 200 pupils from farm schools in Wolseley, Stellenbosch, Wellington and Grabouw handed a memorandum to the Western Cape Education Department on Monday. The demonstration was organised by Women on Farms Project.
Bernard Chiguvare
News | 29 June 2015
Residents in Wynberg and Plumstead were still up in arms on Wednesday over the new planned MyCiti bus route. They claim it has not involved true public participation. If implemented as currently proposed, many families will have to be evicted and the social character of Wynberg will be changed.
Ashleigh Furlong
News | 19 June 2015
City Press reported on Sunday the names of some people involved in a R51 billion PRASA tender for new train coaches. These included businessmen with close ties to the ANC, such as Thalente Myeni, son of Dudu Myeni who is the chairperson of SAA, as well as Pearl Zuma, a distant cousin of the president.
Text by GroundUp Staff. Photos by Masixole Feni.
News | 19 May 2015
At least three Golden Arrow buses and a delivery vehicle were set alight in Nyanga, apparently by taxi drivers who are demanding that the City Metro Police return their cars that were impounded yesterday.
Nombulelo Damba
News | 21 April 2015
Whiteboy and Tupac are chilling on a bench in New Canada station before their usual high-octane commute to school. Whiteboy, aged 18 and in grade 11 at a former model C school in Jozi, wears a striped T-shirt, shorts and brown suede shoes. He’s smoking Dunhill Courtleigh blends. His “macala” (friend) Tupac is a year younger, with short hair, neat in school rig and black toughees (school shoes) with red laces, high as a kite on weed, with sleepy red eyes. Their excited schoolgirl fans can’t wait to see the action.
Mosa Damane
Feature | 9 April 2015
The Metrorail website claims that it carries up to two million passengers per day countrywide. Finding a reliable estimate of how many people commute daily using trains in the Western Cape is challenging. Estimates range from 300,000 to over 700,000. Whatever the number, a lot of people, mostly working class, depend on trains to get to and from work.
Nathan Geffen
Opinion | 19 February 2015
Persistent train delays cause constant problems for Metrorail commuters. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), which owns Metrorail, plans to fix South Africa’s ageing and poorly maintained rail infrastructure.
Kevin Elliott
News | 19 February 2015
The petrol price drops today by R1.27 a litre and the diesel price by R1.05 - but this will not mean lower fares for Cape Town’s taxi and bus passengers.
Zintle Tia Swana
News | 7 January 2015
The journey to school is long and tough for many pupils. Some have to travel for hours on foot to get to school. The Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) recently collected affidavits in rural KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) which were “truly incredible and devastating”.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 4 December 2014
Lulamile Witbooi lost his legs in a train accident in 1991. Today he runs the “Corner Market”, a thriving fruit and vegetable shop in Zwezwe, Khayelitsha.
Joyce Xi
News | 26 November 2014
While Metrorail guards demand train tickets, a poor service leaves many commuters to face the consequences of being late.
Tariro Washinyira and Zintle Swana
News | 20 November 2014
The 7th annual Irene Grootboom Memorial Dialogues, which explore the continuation of Cape Town’s “spatial apartheid”, are underway. On Tuesday night, the focus was on the spate of shack evictions around the city this year, and the correlation between poor, densely populated areas and traffic deaths and education outcomes.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 19 November 2014
Following the beating up of a member of the Vrygrond Taxi Association (VTA) earlier this week, GroundUp asked the Western Cape Ministry of Transport and Public Works its views on the VTA.
Daneel Knoetze
News | 14 November 2014