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Cabbie on the move

RICHARD Mokau is an owner-driver at taxi franchise SACAB. He spoke to us about his career of seven years.

"I saw a good opportunity when I started with SACAB in 2005.

"I was one of the first to work for SACAB. I bought the Pretoria-Centurion franchise a while ago and my dream is now to build up the business to 10 cabs over the next two years. Currently we have three cars in Centurion. In this line of work you can earn between R3000 and R7000 a month.

"We transport corporate people, ordinary people and some hospital patients from their homes to various places, such as the airport, hospitals, hotels, restaurants or malls," Mokau says.

A cab driver picks up people and transports them to wherever they want to go and, if need be, collects them afterwards.

Richard says their service is also used for functions, such as weddings and matric dances, since many people love their original 'London cabs'.

"I also point out places of interest on my route to the customer," he says. "The pros of the job are meeting new and different people, getting to know various places and saving the lives of South Africans by driving them when they have had too much to drink on a night out. The con of the job is when I have to deal with an arrogant or drunk passenger who tries to control me."

To become a cab driver you need to have matric, a Professional Driving Permit (PDP) and be able to speak English quite fluently. The company you work for, will usually give you extra training, which would include map-reading, driving with passengers, and master driving.

"The company continually educates us and I hope to be able to do a tour guide course, which should be incorporated in the training," Mokau says.

You need to be well-mannered, friendly and trustworthy, and have the ability to make people feel safe. Also, you need to have excellent driving skills, communication skills, a good sense of direction, and some computer skills, in order to use the Personal Digital Assistant. The PDA is used to keep in contact with the call centre, so that they can monitor where you are and dispatch you to calls.

An average day for Richard starts at 7am or at 6pm, as he works shifts. "In the mornings, we are based at the hotels, where we will wait for hotel guests who want to go somewhere, or wait for a call from the call centre to go and drive a client somewhere. At 12pm we will move to our mall base and wait for passengers or for a call from the call centre."

Richard's shift usually ends at 6pm or 7am in the morning, depending on his shift. Richard says: "Take your own career seriously, study hard and learn more about your career. Hard work pays off in the end." - sacareerfocus

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