E Molewa: Transport Education and Training Authority Taxi Certification
Ceremony

23 May 2006

Programme Director
Executive Mayor of the Goodwill City of Mafikeng, Cllr M Sejosengoe
Kgosi Montshioa and all our esteemed Traditional Leaders present
Deputy Director-General van Staden and all senior managers present
Provincial Executive Manager with the Department of Labour, Mr A
Makhapela
TETA Provincial Chairperson, Mr N Sechele
Reverend Peega and all representatives of faith-based organisations
present
Representatives of organised labour
South African National Taxi Association Council (SANTACO) and South African
Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU)
Certificate recipients, taxi owners and taxi operators
Members of the departmental choir and brass band
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

It is my special privilege to be with you today and witness this important
milestone in our taxi industry, the Transport Education and Training
Authority’s (TETA) Taxi Certification Ceremony.

I think we must really give ourselves a round of applause as a province for
having reached this stage of the skilling, training and now certification of
our taxi industry operators.

If anyone has doubt about the road we have travelled in the province since
the National Minister of Labour introduced the Transport Education and Training
Authority in 2000, they only have to consider that we are the first to form
Taxi Co-operatives, allowing our taxi industry players to own their own petrol
stations, so that ownership and entrepreneurship are not just limited to just
owning a taxi.

We are convinced that North West Taxi operators and industry players can be
counted among the best, the most road-compliant and the most courteous
operators in the whole of South Africa.

Words of congratulation and appreciation are due to our Transport
Department, in conjunction with Department of Labour, for having driven this
process efficiently to ensure that we bring competitiveness and professionalism
to the Small, Medium Micro-Economic(SMME) within the taxi industry by providing
relevant NQF-aligned learning to the recipients of the certificates today.

The people who have brought us here, the recipients of certificates have
come a long way themselves but in the end they have elevated our province by
ensuring that we are counted among the more than 4 000 learners in the taxi
industry throughout the nine provinces that the National Department of
Transport in conjunction with the Department of Labour set out to train and
certify.

We are especially proud as a province because the key competencies for which
our recipients are being recognized today include Professional Driving,
Customer Care, Generic Business Administration and Mentoring and Coaching. So
you can understand why I say North West Taxi Operators are among the best in
the country.

Programme Director, we would like to acknowledge the sterling work done by
TETA in the other sub-sectors of the transport industry. In particular, TETA
has done outstanding work in the sub-sectors of aerospace, forwarding and
clearing, freight handling, maritime, rail, road freight and road
passenger.

One of the main objectives of Government in uplifting the taxi industry is
to develop and improve skills in the sector. We believe we can do this by
facilitating a framework of lifelong learning through a delivery system that
enhances the level of skills in the taxi industry workplace.

We are therefore determined to provide the best quality service in the taxi
industry and maximize value for all stakeholders. We love our taxi industry. It
is our uniquely South African mode of transport and we are certain that it will
be there, with uniform qualities and adhering to high safety standards and
therefore much improved when the 2010 Soccer World Cup comes to our shores.

If you go beyond the borders of our country, you will see that Nigeria is
distinguished by its yellow cabs. New York taxis also stand out, as do the
Nairobi, Kenya micro-buses. South Africa should also take pride in its own taxi
industry. We therefore welcome the measures taken by the Minister of Transport
in introducing the Taxi Recapitalisation programme and his efforts must be
supported by all of us in the industry.

That is why we will not run away from our responsibility as Government to
identify skills shortages and training needs in the taxi industry, create an
environment for growth and development of employees and Small, Medium and Micro
Enterprise (SMME) operators in the industry.

We also have an obligation to develop and implement effective systems for
quality assurance and recognition of learner achievement in this industry. That
is the broad objective within which the Taxi Certification today falls.

Over time, we will continue to measure the effect of this education,
training and development by SETA on the overall productivity and profitability
of our taxi industry.

However, we have no doubt in our minds that today’s Taxi Certification
Ceremony is but one concrete step towards the long-term goal of providing safe,
reliable, effective, efficient and fully integrated transport operations for
our province and indeed our country.

We would therefore like to congratulate all the recipients of the
certificates today for having taken us this far in our road for firm
regulation, growth and development in the taxi industry. We are proud of their
achievements and we believe they put us in a favourable position as province in
the quest to improve the industry.

What these certificates mean to these recipients is that they have not only
shown undoubted commitment for skills development but also a firm adherence to
the Legislation implemented by TETA, namely the Skills Development Act of
1998.

What these certificates demonstrate to us as Government is that our taxi
industry is beginning to reap the rewards of partnership between Taxi employers
and employees on the one hand, and between Government and the taxi industry on
the other hand.

All of us who have been involved in the process, as MEC Thibedi will tell
you, have long realised the considerable role that the development of human
resources plays in enhancing effectiveness, efficiency, productivity and
profitability in the taxi industry.

By capping the recipients with these certificates today, we are therefore
affirming our investment not only in the taxi industry but also the broad
transport operations of our province and indeed our country South Africa.

I have been informed that the slogan of the taxi industry is “Forward Ever,
Backward Never, in Pursuit of Excellence!” As I conclude, I would therefore
like to align myself with the slogan of the taxi industry and restate that as a
Provincial Government we will be intensifying our forward march to the growth
and development of all our Taxi operators, owners, regulators and all the SMMEs
involved in this critical industry.

We are proud to be part of this forward drive and most importantly we are
very delighted to have reached this stage of our development, the Certification
Ceremony.
Because we have reached the stage of giving out certificates, we can now say
without fear of contradiction that the taxi industry in our province has begun
to see dividends of their partnership with Government and other stakeholders.
They have, like us, reached an Age of Hope that this industry will soon achieve
the kind of professionalism, reliability and efficiency that we have sought
together when we began this journey.

In congratulating the recipients, I would like to appeal to every member of
the audience here to keep that remark about Taxi operators from other provinces
as secret as possible. But know within yourself that North West Taxi operators
can be counted among the best, the most road-compliant and the most courteous
operators in the whole of South Africa.

Keep up the good work and congratulations once more to all the Taxi
Certification recipients.

I thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial Government
23 May 2006
Source: North West Provincial Government (http://www.nwpg.gov.za/transport/default.asp)