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.
Trackworks and associated railway infrastructure are complete and this section of the Gautrain route is now operational. Ticket vending machines and fare gates have been installed and testing of the system is in progress.
At Sandton station, construction work on the multi-level parkade and erection of structural steelwork canopies that will form the entrance structure on the corner of Rivonia Road and West Street is under way.
He said that as the airport's name changed from the Johannesburg International Airport to the OR Tambo International Airport in 2006, "so did its form and size".
A transport action plan was developed in 2005 in preparation for the World Cup, as part of which R20bn was put into expanding airports countrywide.
"... Now we are seeing the results," said Zuma.
"We are confident that in the next few months, traffic on our roads will flow without the congestion and the inconvenience that is currently being encountered," [Premier Nomvula Mokonyane] said in her speech to the Foreign Correspondents' Association.
"We have been given a guarantee by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) that key parts of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project will be completed by end of April 2010."
The R21 highway joining the OR Tambo International Airport and the cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane would be completed by the end of April, with three lanes opened in both directions, she assured the foreign media.
Although the train is not a World Cup project, its readiness would ease concern that existing public transport plans may not be sufficient for the many thousands of visitors expected in SA for the event.
Barbara Jensen, spokeswoman for the project, told Business Day yesterday that although the airport-to-Sandton link was not a World Cup project, "chances are very good that it can be ready".
She said the project managers would make a final call on the deadline within the next two weeks.
"We are satisfied with the progress made at the airport and I am confident that the world cup will be safe. Our law enforcement agencies are ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup," he said.
Mthethwa was visiting the country's largest port of entry on Tuesday as part of his ongoing campaign to check the state of readiness of all ports of entry, including airports and borders before the mega tournament.
Organisers of South Africa 2010 had hoped fans would arrive at Johannesburg airport and board a high-speed train to the commercial centre.
Instead, most football fans' first experience will now be a taxi or a shuttle bus and more than likely a sizable traffic jam, our correspondent says.
For the past three years builders have been working on the Gautrain - an ambitious $3.5bn (£2bn) project linking Johannesburg, Pretoria and the airport.
Contractors, under pressure to complete before next June's deadline, demanded an additional $180m (£107m) to accelerate their work and hit the target.
[Gautrain Management Authority chief executive officer Jack] Van der Merwe said that 14km of the 15km of tunnelling has been completed and that 25 percent of the track-laying has been done.
The bulk of the civil works has been completed.
Van der Merwe said an announcement would be made next month on whether the OR Tambo to Sandton route would be complete two weeks before the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
The first phase is still scheduled to be up and running by the end of June next year, although it may be accelerated to wrap in May, in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The decision on this is still pending.
The initial phase encompasses the rail network between the OR Tambo International Airport and Sandton, and includes the stations at OR Tambo, Rhodesfield, Marlboro and Sandton, together with the depot and operations control centre located near Allandale road, in Midrand.
The second phase, being constructed concurrently, will be completed in 54 months, towards 2011.