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We don't miss regulation until it's gone. The apartheid government, in its dying days, decided to promote free-marketism and it deregulated the minibus taxi sec

by buyx 14y ago

We don't miss regulation until it's gone. The apartheid government, in its dying days, decided to promote free-marketism and it deregulated the minibus taxi sector, thinking that each driver would run a one-man business. What really happened is that those with access to capital bought fleets of minibuses and South Africas cities became a nightmare by the mid-1990's with taxi-owners forming cartels which engaged in bloody wars for lucrative routes. The taxis are unsafe, and their drivers are reckless (passengers dare not complain). Government attempts at re-regulation are constantly stymied. The taxi industry operates with impunity, and managed to get ownership of new Bus Rapid Transit systems in Johannesburg and Pretoria (they'd have shot bus drivers if they didn't get a stake). I've been threatened personally with a weapon (a hammer, not a gun, fortunately) by a taxi driver who felt I didn't move out of his way fast enough. Not coincidentally, it was around that time that my libertarian leanings began to wane.

ef4 14y ago
"engaged in bloody wars for lucrative routes" "threatened personally with a weapon" Isn't the obvious solution to this problem the enforcement of existing laws against threats and violence? Or conversely, if the government is so weak that it can't stop the taxi cartels from fighting bloody battles, surely it's also too weak to enforce cab licensing laws.
- buyx 14y ago
  Yes, the fundamental problem is a weak state. However, deregulating the industry made the problem far worse than it could have been. Our law enforcement is not entirely ineffectual, and a permit system would have provided more control than a free-for-all, by moderating supply. Buses remained more tighly controlled and I don't see bus warfare (there is an upward trend in accidents involving buses though I think that has more to do with poorly skilled drivers than profit-seeking).

by buyx 14y ago

ef4 14y ago

"engaged in bloody wars for lucrative routes" "threatened personally with a weapon" Isn't the obvious solution to this problem the enforcement of existing laws against threats and violence? Or conversely, if the government is so weak that it can't stop the taxi cartels from fighting bloody battles, surely it's also too weak to enforce cab licensing laws.

buyx 14y ago
Yes, the fundamental problem is a weak state. However, deregulating the industry made the problem far worse than it could have been. Our law enforcement is not entirely ineffectual, and a permit system would have provided more control than a free-for-all, by moderating supply. Buses remained more tighly controlled and I don't see bus warfare (there is an upward trend in accidents involving buses though I think that has more to do with poorly skilled drivers than profit-seeking).