With their hopes of making a killing during the World Cup dashed, meter-taxi drivers now face the reality that the Gautrain has fundamentally changed travel for good on this route.
The Gautrain has transported 400 000 people since it launched last month, some of whom just wanted to experience this mode of transport.
Meter taxis charge up to R500 for a single trip on this route, while the journey costs R100 on the Gautrain.
[Gauteng Department of Transport Director Sipho] Mbele said rail was going to be the backbone of the mass public transport, with eight dedicated trains for Tshwane and 10 for Johannesburg to be added to normal operational services.
He said that 50 days before the start of the tournament, the department's transport operations were ready and were being rolled out for 19 of the 32 teams which would have their camps in Gauteng.
[Official Robin Carlisle] was outlining a new policy to deal with the local taxi industry, following recent violence in the Retreat/Steenberg/Vrygrond area. A driver was shot and killed in Retreat. In Steenberg a driver and his passengers were shot and wounded.
Carlisle further vowed to shut down operations in areas where violence took place, or was threatened.
Last week the department called on provincial and municipal authorities to be on the lookout for the 1 070 or so vehicles it had identified as being converted.
In the market, panel vans are about R45 000 cheaper than taxis.
Dealers buy these vehicles, convert them into taxis and then sell them to operators at the same price as a standard specification taxi to cream off large profits.
While these vehicles are not sub-standard, and could be used by non-public operators or for private use, they are not of the standard required for public transport.
The city warned commuters earlier this week that the Western Cape National Taxi Alliance (WC-NTA) had indicated it would be embarking on a strike.
"The city has had several meetings with the Western Cape National Taxi Alliance and has negotiated in good faith to address their concerns which include traffic fines, permits and warrants for arrest," the city said in a statement.
Drivers say the government should have at least spent some of the 2010 transport budget on the metered taxi industry, as it was expected most foreign visitors would use cab taxis during the event.
Abubaker Safodien, chairman of the Western Cape Metered Taxi Council, said the government was more concerned about minibus taxis than the metered taxi industry for the World Cup.
Johannesburg was supposed to have a new rapid bus system in place for the Confederations Cup, but the all-powerful minibus taxi industry, fearing for its market share, put the brakes on the project. The first phase of the bus-rapid-transit (BRT) is now only due for completion by September.