Toyota South Africa, together with the University of Pretoria (UP), wrapped the 2023 year with a series of graduation ceremonies of taxi operators and administrative staff, who participated in the Ses’fikile training programmes rolled out over the course of four years across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Western Cape, and Mpumalanga.
The training programmes enrolled more than 1350 delegates since it started in 2016 to date with the last lap of the graduation ceremony taking place in Pretoria’s Innovation Hub on the 8th of December last year.
The proud delegates who successfully completed the training programmes received certificates in The Ses’fikile Programme in Management Principles and Practices, Ses’fikile Office Management Programme, and Ses’fikile Programme Advanced Leadership.
According to Parks Moraladi, Toyota South Africa senior manager: Tender & Taxi Business, the Ses’fikile Programme Advanced Leadership Development which was recently added to the training programme aims to equip leaders in the taxi industry with the tools and techniques to optimise the strengths of their respective management structures and to transform and drive change in their associations and the industry at large.
“When we introduced this advanced leadership segment of the training, we were responding to the leadership needs of the industry to contribute to the ongoing efforts of industry’s stakeholders to professionalize the industry,” said Moraladi.
KZN Santaco chairperson, Boy Zondi, said the industry is going to benefit from the Toyota’s training initiative. “As the taxi industry we are proud to witness taxi operators who had embraced this training opportunity to develop them in much-needed critical skills. The strong participation of women is a course of celebrations as
it entrenches women’s empowerment in the industry,” Zondi said during the graduation ceremony held in Durban.
Free State National Taxi Alliance (NTA) chairperson, Job Malindi and Free State Santaco, chairperson, Morena Mthimkhulu congratulated taxi operators who successfully completed the training programme at the event held in Bloemfontein.
“What the University of Pretoria and Toyota South Africa is doing in the taxi industry is commendable. The Toyota Ses’Fikile training that is being implemented by them is of high quality. The enthusiasm that taxi industry’s leaders, operators, and administrative staff have shown towards their studies and the pass rate of this class bears testimony to this commitment and hunger for knowledge,” Malindi said.
Mpumalanga Santaco secretary, Simphiwe Sibanyoni, addressed
graduates in Nelspruit said the Toyota’s Ses’Fikile Training programme restored the dignity of taxi operators.
“There are people out there that used to look down at taxi operators with disdain, as uneducated people – which is far from the truth. The taxi industry partnership with Toyota South Africa and the University of Pretoria dispels this myth as we have more taxi operators who are actively participating in development and educational programmes aimed at changing the image of the industry and promoting customer care and overall business management of the taxi business. We also have taxi operators with degrees and diplomas from other institutions,” said Sibanyoni.
