Business Times reports that as the national Covid-19 lockdown enters its second month, minibus taxi drivers will not be lining up to claim unemployment money.
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula said at a recent briefing that because the taxi industry was not regulated, the industry’s 200,000 employees — mostly drivers and taxi-rank marshals — were not eligible for Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) payments. But the Taxi Industry Sectoral Determination — which was thrashed out by the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) and the department of labour, and launched in April 2005 — instructed taxi operators to begin making UIF contributions for their drivers along with guaranteeing other benefits. Despite being published in the Government Gazette in April 2005, the determination was never implemented, according to public transport analyst Paul Browning. “I can assure you that it remains in force and has not been rescinded,” he indicated. Section 6 of the determination states that every payday the employer must give the employee a pay slip that includes the employer's UIF registration number and the employer’s contributions to the fund. The government’s failure to hold the taxi to account has now been harshly exposed by the lockdown as commuters stay home. Mbalula said the department was “fully aware” of the agreement and of the adverse impact on drivers and other employees of taxi owners not complying with the legislation. The issue will apparently be raised at the forthcoming National Taxi Indaba.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Paul Ash at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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