The recently announced taxi fare increases in Wentworth and Austerville have left residents upset, with some calling on the association to lower the new prices.
The new taxi fare increased by R2 , effective from 10 April.
New Adjusted Taxi Fares
The Association’s Reason
According to the Auswest Taxi Association , the fare increase is due to recent fuel price increases, forcing motorists to dig deeper into their pockets.
Commuter Reactions
Residents took to social media to express their frustration.
Yvonne Stephens posted: “They need to clean up the taxis and get them roadworthy with respectful drivers or know what they doing on the road before they put prices up.”
Nikita Govender said: “Just a question, when the price came down why didn’t the fare come down as well? Now it’s gone up the fare is gone up.”
Alistair Marais said: “Petrol was R24 before and taxi fares went up. Then Petrol prices came down but combi fares remained the same. Now Petrol is going back to original R24 and they want to raise combi prices again. No sense at all.”
Mreva Mbongeni countered: “From July 2022, Wentworth taxes never increased their prices until 2026. So what is the complain about?”
Santaco’s Position
In a statement issued last month, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) said increases on diesel are particularly concerning, as it appears fuel stations are taking advantage of diesel not being heavily regulated.
Santaco said individual taxi associations retain the prerogative to determine fare adjustments based on operational pressures, including:
“Taxi fare adjustments are not ordinarily made in response to fuel price fluctuations alone, as these can be temporal in nature, but are instead considered through a broader, balanced assessment of multiple operational and administrative cost pressures.”
The Bottom Line
The fare is up by R2. The association blames fuel prices. Commuters say it’s “no sense at all.”
Fuel went up. Fares went up. When fuel came down, fares stayed up. Now fuel is up againand so are fares.
For Wentworth commuters, the math doesn’t add up. And the anger is real.
