Just less than three hundred metered taxi drivers in the Western Cape have undergone a four-month training programme, to make them welcoming hosts and information guides for the 2010 World Cup, reports the Cape Argus.

The course content included the security and safety of their passengers, tour guiding around Cape Town and the province, and business skills.    Cab driver Gale Jacobs, one of the newly trained metered taxi-drivers, said:   “The training was like a breath of fresh air.   I always thought the job was just about getting the client from point A to B, but now I’ll also be able to show clients and tourists around on a guided tour of the city.”

The role of minibus taxis is uncertain, and was the cause of a one-day taxi strike earlier this month, causing wide-spread chaos as employees tried to get to work.   FIFA is not allowing minibus taxis to become involved in the World Cup, given their poor safety record, and the minibus taxi industry is unhappy about being cut out of the action.   In addition, it feels threatened by the new Bus Rapid Transit system, that is being introduced prior to the start of the World Cup as an improved public transport sytem.