John's cousin Georgina talked about the taxis and about how powerful they were as a lobby group - blocking or going slow on the motorways. Gradually we came to realise that these were not taxis as we knew them but privately owned minibuses. When some urban areas introduced "proper" bus services the "taxis" felt threatened and took industrial action which resulted in their service been properly recognised and included with in transportation planning.
This shows two taxis picking up passengers in the centre of Pretoria.
It seems a good model to us rather than the gargantuan buses in the UK which are so heavy that they destroy the roads. Clearly a taxi takes people from one locality to do their shopping and then takes them home again. We have seen the lines of minibuses waiting by the shops.
Each taxi seems to specialise in a particular area or route. There are the occasional turf wars and bizarre compromise agreements that are not always in the best interest of passengers but the system seems to be well used and must be efficient and dynamic.
The taxis come in many states of condition some old and battered but many are quite new as there are incentives to trade in older minibuses for larger modern cleaner minibuses. Many carry this South African sign which shows they are a taxi. The taxi owner's details are also written on the taxi.
On our tour of Soweto our guide Agnes explained a bit about the way you use the taxis. You stand by the side of the road. If a taxi comes along it will hoot if it has some room. You then respond with a hand signal that shows where you want to go. If the taxi is going that way it will stop. The route to your destination might not be completely direct as the taxi will drop people of at their houses. We passed this set of sculptures which show some of the hand signals used in Jo'burg.
In towns there are areas that act as taxi stations. This station in Pretoria was full and many taxis had to park along the adjoining street. Inside the Station there was shade and stalls selling food and drinks.
I hope that we have understood this all correctly. If not please let us know.
Pat and John on tour