Dala-dala (also called daladala or dalla-dalla),[1] or share taxis, are the most common form of public transportation in Dar es Salaam as well as Tanzania in general. They are privately operated minivans, (usually Toyota).
Daladalas are operated by the driver and the mpigadebe (in Swahili, "someone who beats on a tin can") whose duty is to collect money from the passengers as well as luring potential customers onboard. As daladalas are informal and will often stop along the way to let passengers climb in, the mpigadebe beats on a tin can (hence the name), or on the daladala's ceiling or doors, to let the driver know when an unplanned stop is needed. There is no precise maximum number of passengers[2] .
There is a minor controversy on the etymology of the term "dala-dala". One explanation for it is from the swahili word dala, referring to a 5-shilling coin, that used to be the most common fare. Since 5 shilling were also the equivalent of 1 dollar, "dala-dala" might also derive from a corruption of the english word.[3]
Daladalas go by different names in some areas, such as gobole, vipanya and hiace (in Arusha); this last name comes from the Toyota HiAce minivan, which is the most commonly used vehicle for daladala service. Kenya's matatu are essentially identical to tanzanian daladalas.
In Zanzibar dala-dalas are sometimes pick-ups, although minivans are also in use. Bigger vehicles such as trucks modified for passenger transport are not usually referred to as daladalas, but rather as mabasi (singular: basi, meaning "bus" in swahili).[1]
Daladalas began operating in Tanzania in the 1960s, but became widespread in the 1980s, due to a crisis of public transport proper: namely, public service did not manage to cope with the fast increase in population of large urban areas such as Dar es Salaam. Daladalas were originally illegal; from 1986 on, the government gradually liberalized the transportation sector, to the point that according to today's laws, essentially every privately owned vehicle can transport paying passengers as long as a licence fee is paid to the government.[4]