 |
| The 2016 top drivers of Santaco KZN, with the RTI inspectors. |
THE KwaZulu-Natal branch of the South African National Taxi Council
(Santaco) on Saturday honoured their top drivers for the second year
running.
Santaco KZN chairperson Boy Zondi said the initiative aimed to
minimise the carnage on SA’s roads.
“One of the major concerns that we have is the issue of safety for
the public who use our transport and have no other alternative. We are sending a
message to our drivers that we cannot tolerate negligence, namely speeding,
drinking and driving, overload and such.”
This year’s competition saw passengers vote for their drivers
through a paid SMS from December 2015.
Santaco’s provincial manager Sifiso Shangase told on the Nqola radio show, which Wheels co-hosted on Capital 104, that
thousands of commuters had responded.
Commuters in KwaZulu-Natal were asked to vote for the driver that
drives safely and communicates well with the passengers. The competition closed
on January 30.
Ten taxi drivers with the most votes were then selected based on
their experience, outstanding traffic fines and an accident record to compete
for the 2016 Best Taxi Driver of the Year title. The competition covered both
theory and practical driving tests at Mkondeni.
As was the case in the 2015 Driver of the Year competition, none of
the competing taxi drivers could have outstanding fines. Shangase was proud to
say only two of the competing drivers had to settle fines before they could
compete this year.
The top three drivers in Kwazulu-Natal are Kiss Ndlovu (33) from
Stanger, Sibusiso Nkabinde (42) from Inanda and Sifiso Gumede (31) from
iNgwavuma. Ndlovu said this opportunity has encouraged him to continue obeying
the rules of the road and caring for passengers because they voted for him.
“I hope other drivers will respect their jobs after hearing of this
initiative, he added.
Chief inspector Bheki Sokhela on Saturday thanked Santaco KZN for
encouraging all taxi drivers to drive safely.
“We will support all your initiatives for the safety of our roads
in KZN,” he said.
