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Tuk-tuks are becoming increasingly common in South Africa

Tuk-tuks are a common feature on Asia’s streets, offering cheap transport to locals and tourists in major Asian cities such as New Delhi, Jakarta, Bangladesh and Cambodia.

The three-wheeled vehicles are commonplace in African countries such as Kenya, Egypt and Mozambique, and have recently begun to appear in Johannesburg and Cape Town, where they offer an alternative to conventional taxis at a slightly cheaper price.

In Johannesburg, tuk-tuks are frequently seen in the Sandton area, transporting passengers from the Gautrain station to nearby destinations, and in areas such as Greenside and Melville which are frequented in the evenings by partygoers and revellers, giving rise to the need for a convenient and affordable way to get home without being caught in a roadblock and arrested for being over the legal alcohol limit.

Tuk-tuks have also begun appearing in and around Cape Town, South Africa’s most popular tourist city.  The city’s thriving tourist industry is driving demand for public transport, and tuk-tuks are the logical choice for cost-effective short distance transport from the city centre to areas such as Sea Point, Clifton and Camps Bay. A number of tuk-tuk operators have, however, been having difficulty getting the regulatory approval that they require in order to provide transport services in South Africa.

Being a relatively new form of transportation, the three-wheeled tuk-tuks do not fall neatly into any of the categories of transport carriers that the authorities have historically catered for, creating a challenge for regulation.

A number of applications for regulatory approval have been submitted by tuk-tuk operators, and the number of tuk-tuks on our roads is set to increase dramatically once the necessary approvals are granted.