Lets Boost The Katlehong Local Taxi Industry

Lets Boost The Katlehong Local Taxi Industry

The taxi industry in Katlehong is breathing through the wound, it is dying day by day and this means that there will be yet another number added on the number of people who can not get through the day because of lack of something to do. This in return will also affect other businesses that are operating because of the taxi industry, this includes business like chicken dust(if you from the township you know what this is), car wash, street vendors, and petrol stations in Katlehong, so the number of people who will be affected by the demise of the taxi industry is far too large than what meets the eye.

We all know what happens when a majority of people in a particular community do not work, social ills become pervasive, we get an increase in Gender Based Violence, drug and alcohol consumption, the spread of HIV and aides and crime becomes uncontrollable. This becomes a burden on the local government, and as it spreads to other townships, it later becomes a burden to the national government. So this is not an issue that should be a concern to the resident of Katlehong or neighboring townships only, it should concern everyone who is concerned about the future of South Africa, and also note that not only is the Katlehong Taxi industry bleeding, as more and more people are buying personal cars, the Taxi business nationwide is affected. This issue should be dealt with urgently, before it grows to a national problem.

There are many reasons why the Katlehong taxi industry(local) is dying, there are issues of lack of innovative management, the fact that more and more people are buying personal cars and no longer using public transport and the lack of employment. You can not stop people from buying cars, so that is not what we can focus on and also it is hard to talk to taxi bosses so convincing them to be innovative in their management style can either be extremely hard or null and void. But we can get more people into employment, in other words, we can get more people to do activities that will require them to move around and also bring more people to move around katlehong, that way we can help boost the currently struggling local taxi business in Katlehong.

The whole taxi business is centered on people moving around, if people have no need to go from point a to point b, then there is no need for a transport to take them from point a to point be. And what makes people want to move from point A to point b is activity, you want to move from one section of Katlehong to another because there is an activity that you must engage in in the other section, or evening to come in katlehong from another area one is mostly attracted by a certain activity that is taking place in Katlehong. So that’s it, if we are to boost the taxi industry, we must make it a point that there are activities taking place in Katlehong that will draw people from various sections and places to participate in.

So the other day I was using a taxi from Katlehong zone 7 going to Katlehong Zone 5 to see a friend, so because I am a guy who likes to pick up conversations with strangers, I start talking to this other lady who was having a hard time making a decision as to which picture of the day must she upload on her whatsapp status. So I asked her why is she having a hard time making such an easy decision, so of went our conversation but I later learnt that she came to Katlehong for church and she comes to church every Sunday, she is not from Katlehong but she is from Thembisa. So this lady took a taxi from Thembisa to Katlehong main rank(sbedlela) and from the main rank to the inner part of Katlehong and back again. I do not know how much a taxi from Thembisa is, but I can tell you is more than ten rands, a taxi from the Katlehong main taxi rank is currently thirteen rands, so if you times that by two you will have twenty six rands, plus that with the amount she left at church and the other amount she spent on light snacks, you can say the woman roughly spent an estimated amount of thirty rands plus in Katlehong in just one day. And mind you, this is just one person, there are others whom I have not met. The money that the woman spent benefited not only the taxi industry, but the church and the lady who might have sold her snacks at the corner near her church.

Churches are yet some of institutions that hosts various activities in Katlehong, but they are not enough and as more young people become skeptical of churches, their activities become ones that we can not rely on. We need more cultural and lifestyle oriented activities. We have many pub and grills all over Katlehong that accommodates those who want to have fun on weekends, but their contribution towards alcohol and drug abuse is too much, we can not trust them, we need alternative entertainment. More events that promotes arts and culture must be initiated, we need to host academic debates and lectures, we need to host chess tournaments, dance competitions, book fairs, and fashion shows.  These kind of events will not only boost the taxi industry but will also contribute towards skills development and give people of Katlehong access to information and opportunities.

Katlehong has Halls in almost all of its sections, it also has the iconic DH William Hall, and these halls must be utilized for the activities that I have mentioned above. If we do this, the local taxi industry will thrive and we will create more jobs in return, we will see more car washes opening up, street vendors will benefit, kids who are interested in video- graphy and entertainment as a whole will also benefit, actually, everyone who has something to offer will benefit. This needs the residents of Katlehong to stand up and initiate, I know there are others who have been hosting fashion shows already, they need to do these fashion shows on a larger scale and be supported by people of Katlehong first and for most. Secondly the local government must assist young people with hosting these activities by offering financial support that will help with marketing the events and most importantly assist with offering Halls as the money required to book a Hall is hard to afford when you are hosting an event for the first time. This is not hard to do, it just needs will and commitment.