So this is actually a really good idea.
/dons flame suit, and informs everyone about my bias as an EV owner.
They are already helping taxi drivers buy new taxies through the existing recapitalisation program
This is already in the budget.
The program basically works by incentivising taxi owners and operators to scrap their existing taxis to buy new ones that are going to be safer and in better condition. They get about R170k per taxi.
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The taxi industry certainly has its problems, but it is an effective and efficient public transport operator. Far better than anything the state does.
If you look at the 7 year budget for this, it is roughly R7.7bn. So R1.1bn per year.
COCT alone spends about R1.7bn a year to try and compete with them.
https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/a...-budget-r19bn-for-road-maintenance-2026-05-14
Prasa alone got R5.8bn for a new fleet, despite having R3.8bn in irregular expenditure.
And I can bet you the taxi industry dwarfs the my Citi bus and Prasa in terms of passenger volume
The way I see it, restricting this scrapping allowance such that it can only go towards a new EV is a refinement of the process, not allocating any more taxes. There are plenty of private charging companies who would be all to happy to build out the infrastructure at taxi ranks. This would also extend to national routes as well (which benefits every EV owner as well).
This would be a huge cost reduction for the taxi industry and therefore eventually passengers once the taxi operators start competing on price in their new EV taxis.
And we get a bonus as well. Taxi industry is heavily cyclical in terms of use. They have morning rush hour and evening rush hour. Which means they have a roughly 3-4 hour break right in the middle of the day to charge ( which is perfect for solar), and they will need to charge at night. Which is good for Eskom. Healthier Eskom is better for absolutely everyone.
Lets summarise benefits:
1) Taxi passengers (working class poor people) will eventually get lower costs of transportation.
2) The EV infrastructure business gets a supercharger on top of the Iran and Ukraine war turbo chargers. This makes EVs more viable for everyone. Including freight and passenger cars.
3) Instead of sending money to the gulf states for oil purchases, that money goes to Eskom.(even if it is badly spent there, the money will stay in the country).
4) It doesn't cost any new additional taxes.
5) You continue with the benefit of the existing capitalisation program, which removes the unroadworthy vehicles from the road (this has its benefits as well. If a taxi has a crash due to it being a pile of rust, the medical bills for that will fall onto the state and RAF, which will certainly be more than R170k.) .
6) You get enough EVs operating in the country and the manufacturers will setup shop here with zero hesitation.
