Appendix 1 – Interview Schedules
The interview will be conducted approximately from 18 January 2013 to 28 February 2013.
For my study, a limited number of associations will be randomly selected from a list of taxi associations in East London. Interviews will be conducted with three taxi associations. These taxi associations operate along the route from Mdantsane Highway to Newlands, via Mount Ruth Station. These are Mdantsane East London Taxi Association, Mdantsane Uncedo Service Taxi Association, and East London Taxi Association. From these associations, the focus is specifically on taxi owners with employees rather than individual owner-operators.
Five taxi owners and six taxi drivers will be interviewed from each taxi association. This will then make a total of 15 taxi owners and 18 taxi drivers to be interviewed. Interviews will also be conducted with the Department of Transport, and the Department of Labour. Qualitative research will be conducted. As noted in the proposal, I will use the following techniques:
interviews, focus group discussions, and documentary research.
I will first start by discussing research ethics with the participants; for example privacy, anonymity, and et cetera will be taken into account.
Interview Schedule for Mdantsane East London Taxi Association – Taxi operators/owners
1. Are you a member of the Mdantsane East London Taxi Association?
2. When did you join the taxi industry?
3. What is your view of the industry? Would you classify it as formal or informal?
Explain.
4. What are your views of the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme?
5. Do you receive any assistance from government?
6. Do you have knowledge of any taxi drivers’ union?
7. How many employees do you have, and how do they work? Are they permanent?
8. What skills do you consider when employing your drivers?
9. How many hours do your drivers work per day/week?
10. Do you take part in the actual production process/driving of the taxis?
11. Do you have employment contract with your drivers?
12. Tell me about the working conditions of your drivers and other employees.
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13. How are your taxi drivers paid; in other words, what is the system used to pay drivers?
14. Do they have employment-linked benefits such as Unemployment Insurance Fund and leave pay?
15. Do you have control on how drivers are to perform their work?
16. Tell me about the forms of interaction and negotiation with your employees.
17. How do you discipline your drivers?
18. What do you think is the reason why taxi drivers get involved mostly in road accidents?
Interview Schedule for Mdantsane Uncedo Service Taxi Association – Taxi operators/owners.
1. Are you a member of the Mdantsane Uncedo Service Taxi Association?
2. When did you join the taxi industry?
3. What is your view of the industry? Would you classify it as formal or informal?
Explain.
4. What are your views of the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme?
5. Do you receive any assistance from government?
6. Do you have knowledge of any taxi drivers’ union?
7. How many employees do you have, and how do they work? Are they permanent?
8. What skills do you consider when employing your drivers?
9. How many hours do your drivers work per day/week?
10. Do you take part in the actual production process/driving of the taxis?
11. Do you have employment contract with your drivers?
12. Tell me about the working conditions of your drivers and other employees.
13. How are your taxi drivers paid; in other words, what is the system used to pay drivers?
14. Do they have employment-linked benefits such as Unemployment Insurance Fund and leave pay?
15. Do you have control on how drivers are to perform their work?
16. Tell me about the forms of interaction and negotiation with your employees.
17. How do you discipline your drivers?
18. What do you think is the reason why taxi drivers get involved mostly in road accidents?
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Interview Schedule for East London Taxi Association – Taxi operators/owners 1. Are you a member of the East London Taxi Association?
2. When did you join the taxi industry?
3. What is your view of the industry? Would you classify it as formal or informal?
Explain.
4. What are your views of the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme?
5. Do you receive any assistance from government?
6. Do you have knowledge of any taxi drivers’ union?
7. How many employees do you have, and how do they work? Are they permanent?
8. What skills do you consider when employing your drivers?
9. How many hours do your drivers work per day/week?
10. Do you take part in the actual production process/driving of the taxis?
11. Do you have employment contract with your drivers?
12. Tell me about the working conditions of your drivers and other employees.
13. How are your taxi drivers paid; in other words, what is the system used to pay drivers?
14. Do they have employment-linked benefits such as Unemployment Insurance Fund and leave pay?
15. Do you have control on how drivers are to perform their work? How do you discipline your drivers?
16. Tell me about the forms of interaction and negotiation with your employees.
17. How do you discipline your drivers?
18. What do you think is the reason why taxi drivers get involved mostly in road accidents?
Interview Schedule for the Taxi drivers in each of these three taxi associations
1. Are you a member of the Mdantsane East London Taxi Association; Mdantsane Uncedo Service Taxi Association; East London Taxi Association?
2. When did you start working for this taxi association/taxi industry?
3. Do you have contract of employment with your employer?
4. Tell me about the employment relationship with your employer.
5. Tell me about your working conditions; how many hours do you work per day/week?
6. Do you get off days, sick leaves, etc?
7. Do you have time to spend with your family?
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8. How do you get paid?
9. Do you have employment-linked benefits such as Unemployment Insurance Fund and leave pay?
10. What are your views on the TRP?
11. What are the reasons that can lead to the dismissal of a taxi driver?
Interview Schedule for the Eastern Cape Department of Transport – Mr Pumzile Mayaphi
1. Tell me about the history of the taxi industry
2. Would you classify the minibus taxi industry as formal or informal? Explain.
3. Tell me about the formalisation of the minibus taxi industry 4. Has the TRP been successful?
5. Do you consider the industry as forming part of the informal sector?
6. How many legal and illegal taxis available?
7. Does the government provide any subsidy to the industry?
8. What do you think is the reason why taxi drivers get involved mostly in road accidents?
9. Please provide me with some documentary information on the formalisation of the industry.
Interview Schedule for the Department of Labour
1. Tell me about the Basic Conditions of Employment Act No. 75 of 1997. Do you think that the minibus taxi drivers’ working hours comply with the provisions of this Act?
2. Tell me about the Sectoral Determination for the Taxi Sector.
3. How do you ensure that the taxi owners obey the labour laws?
4. How do you ensure good labour relations in the taxi industry?
5. Have you heard any cases of unfair dismissal from the industry?
6. What do you think is the reason why taxi drivers get involved mostly in road accidents?
7. Please provide me with some documentary information on the taxi industry.
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Appendix 2 – E-mail Correspondences with Mr. Xolisa Nkomo
Att: Mr. Xolisa Nkomo
Dear Mr. Nkomo
I hope you well.
In the taxi associations’ statistics that you provided me with earlier in the year, under the Registration Status" there is "Provisionally Registered (Section 56.1)". Could you please explain what this means.
Also, what does it mean for a taxi association to be active, inactive?
A focus for my thesis is with the East London Taxi Associations. I understand that the East London Taxi Association operates in East London; Mdantsane East London Taxi Association and Mdantsane Uncedo Taxi Association operate in Mdantsane only? Where do the East London District Taxi Association and Mdantsane East London and Districts Taxi Association as reflected in the table operate?
If you could please explain these and provide me with an explanation of the East London and Mdantsane taxi associations' statistics.
Your assistance will be greatly appreciated. I am in the final stages of my thesis. I shall be submitting this part by Friday, 20 September 2013. It would be really great if you could provide all this before then.
--
Kind regards, Siyabulela Fobosi +27 78 789 9080
[email protected] or [email protected]
Response from Mr. Nkomo:
Good day, Sir
ABOUT THE INFORMATION YOU REQUESTED
1. Registration of Taxi Associations and their members is categorized into three stages of registration status i.e. Provincially Registered; Provincially Registered (section 56.1) and Fully Registered.
Currently associations and their members are registered under Provincially Registered (section 56.1).
That is due to the fact that they don't yet meet all the required requirements for registration to be