SALLDTBO HOLDS SUCCESSFUL AGM AMIDST GLITTERING GALA DINNER

Front- from left to right: Andrew Sithole, Secretary in the office of the President of SALLDTBO; Joe Sibanyoni, President of SALLDTBO; Thulani Qwabe, Chairman of the SALLDTBO Business Committee
Back from left to right: Hendrick Mogale, Deputy Chairman of SALLDTBO; Mr L Dlamini, additional member; Mr J Mokoena, additional member photo by Dimakatso Modipa

The South African Local and Long Distance Taxi and Bus Organisation (SALLDTBO) held a successful Annual General Meeting (AGM) amidst a glittering gala dinner ceremony on Thursday at the Maslow Hotel in Menlyn, Tshwane.

According to SALLDTBO, the aim of the gala dinner was to bring together key leaders in the taxi industry to reflect upon the current state of the taxi industry and share and outline strategic measures to modernise and strengthen the industry.

Fielding questions at a media briefing after the AGM, SALLDTBO President Joe Sibanyoni said the theme for the night was “every day is a fresh start; a blank canvass to paint on and also to remind the leadership of the organisation that we are on course to make sure that the industry remains gun-free at all times; that we need to make money as we are business people and it is my opinion that our members must be reminded of these factors because sometimes they tend to forget these selfsame factors.”

The AGM was a third of its kind since the formation of SALLDTBO and was attended by members of different taxi associations across the country.

Among notable attendees were Mpho Motsepe, Ben Maredi of Mamelodi Amalgamated Taxi Association (MATA) and Federation for Long and Local Distance Taxi Association ( FELLDTA), Stemmer Monageng of Mamelodi Local and Long Distance Taxi Association (MALLDTA), Abner Tsebe President of the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO), representatives from the Department of Roads and Transport, as well as Africa Mayibuye Movement leader Floyd Shivambu.

“We can’t confine ourselves to being taxi operators only because the transport industry offers opportunities in fuel, insurance and technology, maintenance and more, so we must move from being mere participants in the transport economy and become owners in various portions of the taxi industry because hard work leads to prosperity and I must point out that we transport millions of commuters on a daily basis yet we don’t get a fair share of government subsidies,” said Joe Sibanyoni in his address to the guests during the gala dinner.

“This imbalance must be corrected and we are not asking for favours from the government but we are standing up for fairness and justice and recognition of the role we play in the economy,” said Sibanyoni.

He urged members of all taxi associations to join the Icebolethu Funeral insurance scheme and revealed that at the moment 80% of the members of all taxi associations have joined the scheme; that their support in this regard “reflects wisdom and foresight.”

He announced that the taxi industry has officially entered the cashless era as evidenced by the PRS taxi association, which is the first association to go cashless.

He also announced that a biography about his life, which is in the form of a book and sells for R1000, is already on sale at bookstores and that the proceeds thereof will help those whi are needy in the taxi industry.

SALLDTBO Secretary Andrew Sithole described the AGM and gala dinner as a pilgrimage whereby all taxi industry leaders converge to share ideas and celebrate each other.

Abner Tsebe President of SANTACO also expressed words of encouragement to the taxi industry and urged members to move with the times and use modern technology to compete with entities like Uber.

He also said those who recently opened businesses must not expect immediate profits as it takes time for any business to show signs of making profit for its owners.