The minibus taxi industry is often the most convenient and affordable mode of transport for the poor. At a time when few economic empowerment opportunities existed for the oppressed majority, this industry was, to a large extent, a catalyst of black empowerment in SA.

Today the industry continues to provide mobility to rural and urban poor South Africans, despite the obstacles caused by apartheid spatial planning. The industry enables the rural and urban poor to travel to their workplaces in cities that would otherwise be mostly inaccessible...