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Cape Town - The Western Cape’s MEC for transport, Donald Grant, has told News24 Live that his administration is being watched carefully regarding licensing of e-hailing service Uber.
IN-DEPTH: Does Uber have a future in South Africa?
Uber, which partners with drivers and car owners using an internet application, has been in the spotlight in the Western Cape this year.
Fin24 reported last month that over 200 Uber cars have been impounded in Cape Town in 2015 because the service’s drivers didn’t have metered taxi permits.
READ: Cape Town impounds over 200 cars in 2015
Meanwhile, it has taken six months for Western Cape provincial officials to give 145 Uber drivers metered taxi licences.
Delays around the process have been caused by confusion over regulation. Because Uber cars don’t have physical meters inside the cars, the internet service is of the view that it needs to fit into a new category of licensing.
National government is looking to amend a national land transport law to include e-hailing, but in the meantime Uber finds itself in legal limbo.
"Obviously there has been toing and froing between province and the city (Cape Town) up to now,” Donald Grant, the Western Cape’s MEC for transport told News 24 Live.
Uber drivers have to apply for metered taxi permits through the City of Cape Town. However, the city then refers those applications onto Western Cape provincial authorities for final approval.
Uber last month complained that the province was taking too long to process these applications and award licences.
"It's a continuous process, but obviously we're being watched as a provincial government by other people who have licences within the system,” Grant said.
Rival metered taxi drivers in the Western Cape and even Gauteng have cried foul over Uber allegedly not being held to the same regulations, resulting in what has been described as ‘unfair competition’.
MEC Donald Grant speaks about Uber in a News24 Live interview. (News24 Live)
Cape Town welcomes licensing
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town has welcomed the awarding of 145 metered taxi licences to Uber drivers by the Western Cape provincial government last week.
Councillor Brett Herron, who is the mayoral committee member for transport in Cape Town, said in a statement on Friday that Uber “has the potential to raise the quality of service in our city and to make on-demand transport services more commuter-focused and commuter-friendly”.
“While Uber is a welcome addition to our public transport offering and a positive development, their model does not strictly fit within the provisions of the National Land Transport Act,” said Herron.
“As such, there was debate around an appropriate regulatory framework under which they could operate. It was then decided that while the legislative framework catches up, dispensation could be made for these drivers to operate using a metered taxi permit,” he said.
Herron on Friday also said that Cape Town is also looking to introduce an e-hailing by-law.
