Pretoria – Taxis are the most used mode of public transport in South Africa, with females using them more than males, says Statistician General Pali Lehohla.
Speaking on Wednesday during a media briefing in Pretoria, he said 31.8% of males drive to work, while 27.7% of females use taxis to travel to work.
Lehohla released the Gender Patterns in Transport 2013 report, which shows that females are more likely to use public transport, except for trains, and are often vehicle passengers.
For females, the use of public transport was most prevalent in KwaZulu-Natal (45.3%), Mpumalanga (42.8%), North West (42.5%) and Gauteng (41.8%).
Across all provinces, the use of buses or trains as a form of public transport to get to work is lower than taxis.
“The daily travel of males and females in South Africa is not only influenced by cultural and social norms around gender, but also by a set of complex demographic social and economic hierarchies,” Lehohla said.
He said it was black African and coloured females who reported the highest use of taxis.
Females in South Africa still have not attained gender equality in the possession of driver’s licences. In 2003, 15% had driver’s licences and in 2013, 19% had licences. 32% of males in 2003 had licences, increasing to 35% in 2013.
“Even though increases were observed among females, there are still more males than females who possess a driver’s licence.
“However, black African females experienced the largest increase (6%) in persons in possession of a driver’s licence during this period,” Lehohla said.
The white population group was most likely to be in possession of a driver’s licence than any other population group, with 79% in 2003 and 84% in 2013. The black African population group was least likely to be in possession of a driver’s licence, with 12% in 2003 and 17% in 2013.
There was an increase in the number of driver’s licences for all population groups, except for Indians and Asians, who saw a decline of negative one percent from 2003 to 2013.
The report also shows that males were more likely to leave for work before 6am than females.
Females made their way to work between 7am and 7:59am. – SAnews.gov.za
