New signs to weed out pirate taxis

THE countdown to a pirate-free taxi industry is on.
The authorities in Windhoek are set to start acting against illegal operators from mid-October.

The Windhoek City Police last week approved a newly designed taxi lamp proposed by the Namibia Bus and Taxi Association (Nabta), which is hoped to sideline illegal taxis and eventually remove them from public roads.The new signs are manufactured in South Africa, and will be made available to registered taxis in the capital free of charge by next month.Nabta president Magnus Nangombe said yesterday that, once the signs become available, there will be a 28-day grace period to allow all registered taxis to get on board before action is taken against those not complying.In the meantime, Nangombe said, legal taxis are being fitted with numbers registered at the City Police, which will enable them to collect the new signs once they are available.The new lamp is much larger than any currently used, stretching almost across the length of the average car roof.No holes need to be drilled into the car – the new sign is held in place by a large magnet, much like some of the signs currently in use and rejected as illegal by the City Police about a month ago.The difference is that the new signs are too big to be hidden from the Police, and have been proven to stay in place up to a speed of 120 kilometres an hour – double the speed limit in town, Nangombe said.It is understood that the manufacturer has promised to provide and repair the new signs free of charge in exchange for selling advertising space on them.It is not known exactly how many taxis are operating in the city, but according to a rough estimate by Nabta, there are about 7 000.Between 2 500 and 3 000 taxis are expected to be identified as illegal once the new system is in use.Once a new Public Transport Bill is approved, the fine for operating an illegal taxi is likely to be increased, while a loophole preventing the Police from confiscating pirate taxis will also be eliminated.Taxi permits will in future expire after 12 months, after which the number of offences recorded against each taxi, driver or owner will be reviewed, said the Nabta president.The public can use the City Police’s new toll-free crime hotline number – 4444 – to SMS the registration number and other details of illegal taxis for the City Police to follow up.According to Nangombe, passengers found making use of illegal taxis in future will also be fined to discourage their use.’We need discipline. People in the taxi industry have conformed to the requirements of Government, and they want to benefit from being legal businesses. And these illegal taxis are making things tough on them. I myself as the president of Nabta feel ashamed of leading an industry this unorganised. I want people to see me leading an industry that’s well disciplined,’ Nangombe said.The new taxi signs will be the standard countrywide.