Taxi Recapitalisation Project

Executive Summary

This goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of the Taxi Recapitalisation Project (TRP) from a change management perspective. This has been conducted by means of a literature study on the history and status of the project followed by an evaluation of the effectiveness of management and roll out against the 10 principles of change management.

The Taxi Recapitalisation Programme can be described as a very complex, multi-year, capital intensive project requiring the input, involvement, alignment and commitment of a multitude of stakeholders through the lifecycle of the project. Although the intent from Government to transform the South African Taxi Industry can be described as very bold and forward looking, they really under estimated the real scope of such a huge change intervention. Throughout the project scope-creep hindered and delayed the implementation. This clearly indicates that overall, the Government underestimated the complexity of the programme and it is a good example that Change Management did not receive nearly as much attention as it should have.

Key recommendations from this evaluation are that the programme should be accelerated in an orderly fashion by introducing the following:

* Establish a Programme Management Office with specific focus on the recruitment of highly skilled project managers to drive and expedite the different aspects of the implementation of the TRP.

* The programme office should include an Organisational Development competence to advise Government on the effective and efficient implementation of the change.

* Change Management skills like problem solving, polarity management and breakthrough thinking should be utilised to manage the diverse number of stakeholders and role-players associated with such a complex programme.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The goals of this study 4

2. Short overview of the history of the project...