• MTN and SANTACO signed a reseller deal on 13 Aug 2025.
• Gauteng taxis gain MTN data, ICT, fintech tools first.
• Future pilots will add IoT tracking and cashless fares.

MTN South Africa has partnered with the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) to modernize the country’s minibus-taxi sector through digital innovation. The initiative, announced on 13 August in an MTN LinkedIn post, will first roll out in Gauteng—home to more than 35,000 of South Africa’s nearly 190,000 taxis.

In its initial phase, SANTACO Gauteng becomes an authorised reseller of MTN mobile data, ICT, and fintech products, while MTN and SANTACO jointly prepare longer-term pilots for Internet-of-Things (IoT) solutions, cashless-payment system,s and enterprise-grade digital tools in an industry that remains largely informal and cash-based. “Using our platforms, including fintech and enterprise business solutions like IoT, we are committed to making this happen,” said Nkosi Kumalo, MTN’s General Manager for SME. “This is about creating a sustainable business model that benefits small businesses within the industry.”

The minibus-taxi sector is the backbone of South Africa’s public transport, carrying millions of commuters daily, yet it has historically struggled with safety, operational efficiency and financial transparency. MTN’s roadmap envisages leveraging its digital platforms to address these gaps, beginning with the reseller agreement and evolving toward tools that support cashless payments, improved route and fleet management, and enhanced passenger and driver safety.

The dominance of taxis in Gauteng’s transport ecosystem underscores the scale of the opportunity. According to the Gauteng Household Travel Survey 2019/20, about 70 % of households do not own a car, and minibus taxis account for 23 % of all peak-period trips, making them the primary mode of vehicular transport for the province’s residents.

This gives the partnership a powerful launchpad: by first making MTN business and fintech products available through SANTACO’s network—and later piloting IoT tracking and cashless-payment adoption within such a widely used mode of transport—MTN and SANTACO can reach millions of daily commuters and thousands of operators in one move. In Gauteng alone, incremental uptake of digital payments or IoT-enabled fleet oversight could set a precedent for the rest of the country, where minibus taxis form the backbone of public transport.

For commuters, the partnership promises safer travel, reduced cash handling and the future convenience of digital fare payments via mobile money. Drivers stand to benefit from eventual real-time route updates, lower theft risk and simpler income-and-expense tracking. Small businesses in the taxi ecosystem—from mechanics and spaza shops to car-washes—could gain access to MTN’s fintech tools for digital payments, micro-loans and business management. In this way, the initiative moves beyond corporate strategy, touching everyday lives and reshaping how South Africa’s most widely used transport sector works for the people who depend on it.

Hikmatu Bilali