​Thembisa Shologu
The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport launched a Public Transport Women's Help Desk - a transformational initiative aimed at addressing specific challenges encountered by women in the sector, particularly the taxi industry.
Loud cheers, ululations and the belting out in song of women in transport celebrated the desk launch, offering customised training, mentorship, leadership cultivation, and access to essential networks in the industry.
Speaking at the launch on Thursday at Derek Masoek Regional Office, Johannesburg, MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela emphasised the importance of transforming the transportation sector into a fair and inclusive space. 
"The launch of the Public Transport Women's Help Desk is both a practical response and a powerful symbol, a response to historical long-standing challenges. A symbol of change that is not just promised but delivered.
"For far too long, women's experiences in public transport, especially in sectors like the taxi, e-hailing, bus and learner transport industry, have been marked by silence, struggle and survival. We declare that the days of invisibility, silence and marginalisation of women are over," said MEC Diale-Tlabela.
She acknowledged that even though the road ahead was long, with partnership, collaboration, and collective support, it would be worth every step.
"Let this be the beginning of a new journey of respect, dignity, inclusion and empowerment, where public transport is not just a way to move from point A to point B, but a vehicle for real change.
"To our partners in taxi associations, learner transport organisations, commuter organisations, women in e-hailing, bus operators, women in unions, and imbokodo in law enforcement, I say this: Transformation is not optional. 
"It is by no means a favour from any man. It is a responsibility we all carry and an aspiration that we are included and be women-led, not as tokens or proxy but as leaders, in our own right, worthy and determined," said the MEC. 
From the Gauteng National Taxi Alliance (GNTA), Zoliswa "MaSfuba" Sifuba expressed gratitude to the MEC for finally recognising women's challenges in the transportation industry. 
"I got into this industry in 1981 when I got married; I have been in it for 44 years.
"I am grateful for what you have created for us. In the Xhosa nation, we have a song that says, 'Iyaqala ukwenzeka lento'. I feel like belting it out because this has never happened. This is history in the making for us women in this industry. 
"This industry was not for us; we came into the industry due to circumstances and situations. We have never even recognised ourselves as businesspeople," said MaS'fuba. 
Sifuba said the help desk would give women a place to run to, as for the longest time, they had been falling without anyone to pick them up. 
She said life in the sector for women has been so tough that some left the industry that fed their families. 
"I become so emotional because many things have happened to women in the industry. We have got so many orphans; a man will have ten taxis, but within a year after his death, a woman would be left with one.
"My plea to you is that you must try to educate us on how to run our businesses and how to sustain our business because we cannot sustain our businesses. Help us change the face of this industry," she pleaded. 
Neema Foundation for Deaf Executive Director Fatima Cele said she was excited about the initiative because it would assist mothers of children with disabilities.
Cele said the platform should help discuss employment opportunities in the transport sector for persons with disabilities and, importantly, their safety.  
"It will be a desk that mothers will be comfortable saying, " I have a child with autism, I have a child who is deaf, I have a child who is disabled, I have a child who's got this, and how do we ensure that our children are safe?
"This desk is going to serve the disability community and represent the continent in that sector. Thank you, MEC. 
"I have a niece that is deaf, and you know my sister panics because she has got a teenager, deaf or not, and she panics when she takes the bus to school and back. 
"With the state of GBV in our country, we worry that if anything happens to her, how do we trace her? Who is she going to talk to, who is she going to explain to so MEC what you have done is beyond what we envision because, as the disability sector, not only is their voice going to be heard but also how they should be accommodated," said Cele.