An investigator for the commission of inquiry into taxi violence says a new police unit which will be resourced and budgeted for will be established in the near future.
Lt-Gen Vinesh Moonoo told the commission that the establishment of the Murder and Robbery unit was approved by police national commissioner Khehla Sitole in July 2019. Moonoo told the commission that the need to include taxi violence within the new unit was to have a dedicated team of officers who would investigate taxi violence.
The commission, chaired by Justice Jeremiah Shongwe, was set up in September last year to investigate the ongoing murders in the taxi industry. Moonoo said the establishment of the new unit will allow Saps officers to investigate serious and violent crimes such as cash-in-transit heists, bank robberies and other high profile matters.
“This function of investigation was redirected to to the DPCI (Hawks) when it was established. But this presented a problem because DPCI would hand pick cases it wanted to investigate while other matters were investigated at station level,” Moonoo said.
In light of his explanation, the commission’s chair Judge Jeremiah Shongwe asked Moonoo whether the current Gauteng taxi task team was mediocre. Moonoo said:
“You would be correct to assume it is mediocre. But the approval of the establishment of the murder and robbery unit means that the correct people, who will be vetted and have the necessary skills will be appointed. If properly it is properly resourced I am sure it will function well.”
Moonoo, who retired in 2016 after 35 years in the police said explained that the Gauteng taxi violence task team was established at the Saps provincial level between 2012 and 2013. He said it comprises of officers from different stations to look into incidents reported at stations.
“A task team is not a unit, it is a team formed to address a specific threat and in this case being taxi violence,” he said.
“After the successful completion of the task, the team I dissolved and members return to their stations.”
He said factors that hamstrung the success of such a team were centred around the lack of resources and the lack of a budget.
“Usually when a team is formed, it is common practice for a station not to give their best members. Such a team would be better served if it was an established unit with its own budget and resources,” he said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.