South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) has described plans to transition the fare collection system in the taxi industry to a fully cashless payment system as progressive and important.

This after Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi earlier this week announced that the province’s taxi industry will be migrating to a cashless system.

Lesufi, however, did not reveal when this initiative will be rolled out.

PODCAST | Lesufi revives plans to revolutionise Gauteng’s minibus taxi industry by transitioning to cashless payment system:

SANTACO Spokesperson Rebecca Phala says the organisation is working with several service providers to look at various payment methods.

Phala emphasis that they transport almost every South African from the villages to the townships and urban areas therefore, it can never be possible to say they are moving completely cashless, at least not now.

“But look, in Cape Town for instance, there is a service provider there who has been using WhatsApp and a wallet system to facilitate automated payment solutions. And then you have Fair Pay which is similar to the bus ticket services where you would bring in cash and go to a kiosk and then load the money onto a card, which can be used beyond a taxi, it can be used for other modes of transport and then you have the SA PAY one,” says Phala.

As we modernise the Gauteng Taxi Industry. No cash No robberies and we jointly make Gauteng safer. Towards a cashless Gauteng pic.twitter.com/F7iOOFZYuX

— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) October 7, 2025