Today is a historic day for our country,” South Africa President Jacob Zuma said on Friday as a group of taxi owners launched the first wholly black-owned airline.
The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) launched its airline in Johannesburg , a move Zuma described as “growth of the country’s aviation industry”.
Speaking at the black business summit, Zuma said his government would like to see “tangible results of economic transformation and freedom of black South Africans especially women and persons with disabilities enter the economic sectors that were closed to them before”.
“Today we are celebrating such an achievement,” Zuma said while speaking at the launch held at Lanseria Airport .
“A sector that was branded by some as never going to be able to progress to even own fleets of buses has leap-frogged into the aviation industry by owning an airline,” the president added.
Jabulani Mthembu, president of SANATACO, was equally enthusiastic on the achievement.
“When we started with a taxi carrying only four people many people asked is this going to work, (and) then we moved to buses (matatus) starting with only nine people they asked the same question now we are here they still ask the same question,” he told public broadcaster SABC during the launch.
The South African matatu industry which is currently regarded as the linchpin of South Africa economy carrying the vast of workforce daily has come a long way since the very first matatu (taxi) was introduced more than half a century ago.
“This is indeed a remarkable chapter in the history of the transport sector, public transport in particular,” South Africa Minister of Transport Sibusiso Ndebele said at the launch.
“We commend SANTACO for taking the first giant leap towards joining this competitive environment, and for demonstrating that the matatu industry is transforming itself into a bigger concern to be reckoned with,” the minister added.
According to SANTCO the birth of matatu industry was a direct result of the industrialization, which forced black South Africans from their traditional homesteads to the cities to look for work.
The emergence of this industry was both an opportunity for black people to advance economically under very trying circumstances, as well as to provide a service to blacks who are main users of public taxi in South Africa .
Being a critical pillar of the South African economy and public transport sector, currently, the industry is the most available mode of transport to the largest number of transport ‘customers’ across a variety of income and need segments.
In South Africa taxis carry 65 percent of the 2.5 billion annual passenger trips in the urban environment and serve as the base-load public transport carrier, both during peak and off-peak transport hours.
Ndebele said SANTACO should be commended for their contribution to bringing peace and stability in the public transport sector.
He said the grouping is a reliable testimony that peace makes way for development and “this lesson could be exported beyond our borders”.
“By choosing peace, they were able to refocus the industry to exploit the great business potential that had always been undermined by the instability that characterized the industry over the years. The aviation industry is a cut throat business with so many challenges to overcome,” he said.
“I however have no doubt with the determination that they have so far displayed, SANTACO will pull through and eventually emerge victorious,” Ndebele added.
According to annual reports released by the South African government, the taxi industry spends 15 billion rand on fuels, 10 billion rand on vehicles and 150 million rand on tyres. It contributes about 16, 5 billion rand in revenue every year.
With motto “A backward glance with a forward outlook”, SANTACO was established in 2001.
“You have achieved in 10 years a goal many would take a lifetime to reach,” president Zuma congratulating the council.
The president said SANTACO Airlines venture is significant because it is a practical example of “economic and social emancipation” in both ownership and consumption.
SANTACO Airlines is owned by more than a hundred thousand taxi owners which makes it one of the most broad-based black empowerment ventures in the country.
“SANTACO is therefore opening air travel to the masses, building on the contribution of other low cost airlines that entered the market recently,” said Zuma.
This new entry underlines the growth of the aviation industry. Pretoria , where the seat of the government is based, is home to more than 70 percent of aviation activities in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
South Africa ’s aviation industry has experienced significant growth over the past decade.
For instance, in 1993, fewer than 12 international airlines flew into South Africa .
To date more than 70 international airlines, including Kenya Airways, fly into the country on a regular basis.
Passenger numbers have been growing more than 10 percent per annum.
The Airports Company of South Africa handles close to 16.8 million departing passengers annually, and is currently experiencing an annual growth of 10.8 percent.
The East London airport, where SANTACO flights will be servicing, has grown by 18 percent on average, reaching more than 700,000 passengers per annum.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment