History was made when the South and North Beach Taxi Association, under Santaco, gave awards to drivers for their good performance and hard work.
The awards ceremony, which was held for the first time, was held at the Coastlands Hotel, Musgrave, recently. The drivers were awarded according to the different races they were selected for.
The Chairman of South and North Beach Taxi Association, Mr. Yusuv Khaliva, said that the main purpose of these awards is to show people that they recognize the work of taxi drivers in this industry. He also said that they were very intent on doing something to encourage taxi drivers.
”It was very important that we do something to encourage taxi drivers. The truth must be revealed that the work these people are doing is very great. Everything we exist is because of them as they wake up every morning to transport people,” he said.
He said they would be making a big mistake if they ignored the fact that the role played by taxi drivers in this industry is very important.
”They don’t only help us but they also help the community so that you can easily get to work every morning. They don’t stop there and make sure that they return people to their homes in the afternoon, which someone might think is easy but it is not,” explained Khaliva.
He said they sat down and discussed that they should establish these awards so that there is something that will encourage their drivers. He said they would be very happy if others did something like what they did.
”It would be a very good thing if other associations could also do this so that it becomes something that KwaZulu-Natal does as a whole,” he explained.
Some officials who were part of the event strongly encouraged cooperation between passengers and drivers. In this event, the most noticeable thing was the way the drivers were dressed as they were wearing colorful suits.
The outstanding driver was Mr. Bongani Malimela, who walked away with a R5 000 check. He said this created an impression that he can communicate well with his passengers as in order to win he had to persuade the passengers to vote for him.
Among the other groups that were present there was a clean car, a driver who was chosen by other drivers because of the way he behaves, a rank manager and many others. All awardees received checks.