By: Dolly Menas
Namibia bus and taxi association (NABTA) secretary-general Pendapala Nakathingo says the N$13 price increase for minibuses is nothing new and that it was agreed upon in December but was just not enforced.
This comes as, on Monday, he announced that minibus drivers would, from Tuesday, start charging customers N$13 per trip from the N$10 they currently charge.
“Due to the fact that they have been doing so, which is not correct, the taxi was increased last year December, but until today there has not been an increment. What we did today was just information sharing that these minibuses are also operating within the Windhoek municipality. They have blue paper, big numbers and everything just like the taxis,” he says.
The price for a taxi fare rose by 9.2 per cent to N$13 in December last year after government approved NABTA’s request for a hike.
Nakathingo also says there was misinformation and confusion regarding the minibuses taxi fare. He claims that the N$10 that was being paid resulted from illegal transportation of those who do not have transportation permits or requirements.
“In addition to that, what led to the charges of N$10 is that some drivers have requirements or transportation permits but they have been overloading passengers in their buses in order to take advantage of the N$10.”
He added that instead of loading 13 or 14 passengers in their minibuses, they load 20 or 30 passengers to make up the remaining difference, which, he said, is incorrect.
“It is not right because when you overload, you know already that you are putting the lives of the passengers in danger. That is now the information that was clarified and made sure it is clear among the taxi community,” he said.
The unionist also claimed that they noticed that minibus drivers have been over-speeding because of the N$10 they have been charging and are causing accidents in the city and putting the lives of other road users in danger. He added that the union has informed the drivers to stop speeding and overloading passengers and must respect the road rules.
Nakathingo stressed that even if the bus fare is the same price as the taxi fare, buses would still have customers because they assist passengers who travel long distances within the city because taxis charge N$39 for the same distance.
“With the minibuses, because they carry more passengers, we gave an instruction and clear directive that the official taxi fare through these buses is 13 Namibian dollars,” he says.
Nakathingo also said that NABTA has been lenient to passengers and bus drivers because they are there to help everyone.
“We are helping the passengers, we’re on the side of the operators, and we are there to make sure that the policies and regulations that are set in conjunction with our government within the NABTA constitution are respected,” he said.
He mentioned that foreigners are conducting illegal transportation business in Namibia, but nothing happens to them.
“We don’t want that, and we have informed all these foreigners so that they can stop such, and should they continue so, we are going to conduct the operation to rule out those foreigners so that we can have a conducive environment,” he says.