Government will be offering relief to the embattled taxi industry.
Most of the taxi relief proposals have been agreed to and adopted.
This emerged on Wednesday night when the Transport Department briefed the parliamentary portfolio committee on the implementation of Level 3 of the Covid-19 regulations.
The loading capacity for minibus taxis is currently at 70%, with social distancing and measures still in place.
Transport Department director-general Alec Moemi said the government has made a commitment to support the taxi industry following negotiations.
“We have arrived at a point where most of the principles have been agreed and adopted,” he said.
This comes as taxi associations have warned of massive increases in fares to help them cope financially during the crisis.
Moemi clarified that the taxi industry would receive relief support as opposed to compensation for loss of income.
This after questions have been raised as to why the government wanted to help the taxi industry with taxpayer money when it did not pay tax.
“In our indications, we made it clear that as the government we pay relief and this is what we do across all sectors. We engaged the industry and that principle was accepted,” he said.
He said the government was providing relief to many sectors, including unregistered businesses, those who stand to benefit include taxi owners, drivers, rank managers, and marshals.
To qualify, the taxi owner must be formally registered as a business, have a business bank account to pay the allowance, and a taxi operating licence.