Powerful taxi bosses in Gauteng are ruling with impunity in the industry, ensuring that their vehicles do not queue to get passengers and preventing elections within associations from taking place.
These are the findings made by the commission of inquiry into minibus-type taxi violence which were contained in the report released by Gauteng transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo on Thursday.
The commission chaired by justice Jeremiah Shongwe found that taxi associations are not regulated, which then allows their executives to do as they please instead of representing the interest of their members.
Shongwe found that taxi executives “simply move to the front when they arrive at the taxi rank”.
“The involvement of associations in the business of taxi operators, including the different money collection methods, makes the incumbent executives resist vacating their positions even where they have been voted out of office.
“In certain instances, money collected is for the benefit of these executives. The incumbent executives also generally avoid calling for elections that may have them voted out for fear of losing power and money. Associations have also become a law unto themselves by collecting money from members daily or weekly which is not accounted for properly,” the report said.
Gauteng premier David Makhura established the inquiry following cries that the taxi violence in the province was continuing and there was no clear plan to end the killing of people in the sector. Taxi violence in the province is predominantly dominated by fights over routes.
The inquiry began its work in 2019 and completed it last year.
It found that there are three types of taxi operators in the province. These are:
- taxi owners with vehicles that have operating licences linked to each minibus taxi and specified route.
- taxi owners have operating licences, but also have other vehicles that have no operating licences but operate on the other routes of the association.
- those with no operating licences for their vehicles, but who are operating within the routes of a taxi association.
Shongwe found that there are currently 505 active police cases that have not been resolved which involve taxi violence in the province. He recommended that these be investigated.
The commission recommended that all routes fraudulently registered be reversed and all officials involved in the issuing of these be criminally charged.
Mamabolo welcomed the report and described it as “new chapter” in the sector. He said the department will develop an implementation plan for the recommendations of the report.
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