WE congratulate Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo, Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and Minister for Transport Sbu Ndebele and their officials for making it possible for commuters to travel with ease, cheaply and timeously.

WE congratulate Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo, Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and Minister for Transport Sbu Ndebele and their officials for making it possible for commuters to travel with ease, cheaply and timeously.

We applaud their showing the courage of their conviction in the face of such stiff and frightening opposition.

South Africa has a fine road system but it was built at a time when previous governments did not anticipate a different social order.

As a consequence the roads are too narrow and too few for a growing and developing nation.

It is expected that the BRT will experience birth pangs. But we are optimistic that these will be sorted out.

The experience in Johannesburg will hopefully make it easy for the system to be implemented elsewhere in Cape Town, Pretoria and other areas.

We also acknowledge the role the taxi industry has played in the development of the economy and in transporting citizens.

We also acknowledge that they laboured under harsh laws but persevered to become the single most successful industry begun and controlled by black people.

We hope that they will come to accept BRT and its lifeenhancing services for their old market. Times have changed and with them the needs of the population.

This does not mean that the role of the taxi industry will diminish but rather that it, too, will evolve to meet the needs of commuters in the whole country.

We urge the taxi industry to give the BRT a chance.