Taxi associations 'a law unto themselves' and feed into deadly violence, report finds

Local taxi associations are allowed to run amok and do as they please.

They control who gets to join them, charge exorbitant fees - which are generally not accounted for, rendering the associations “a law unto themselves” - and are at least partially responsible for the route saturation that often leads to violence.

These are among the many findings a commission of inquiry into taxi violence, fatalities and instability in the industry in Gauteng has made.

Gauteng transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo released the report of the commission of inquiry, which judge Jeremiah Shongwe chaired.

The commission found that despite the legal framework - which required that the Provincial Regulatory Entity (PRE) must issue operating licences - it was the local taxi associations that controlled the service.

The associations also controlled routes and operations, to the extent of determining where each operator operated and allowing people without operating licences to join the association and compete with those with existing operating licences.

It found that the regulatory authority required the prospective applicant for an operating permit to have a letter of recommendation from an association, despite this not being a requirement of the law.

“The PRE uses the associations as gatekeepers to stop individuals who are not members of associations from entering the ... industry,” the commission found.

It recommended that the associations must be limited to what they are established for in law, and should not involve themselves in operational matters.

The commission also found that illegal taxi operators cause the over-saturation of the industry. It said this has been blamed for some of the violence, as operators compete for routes, particularly those that are lucrative.

The report found that many illegal operators forced their way in and operated on the routes via threats and intimidation. In some cases, these illegal operators were allowed to operate by the executives of the taxi associations, mostly in exchange for money.

There were also instances where those who had operating licences also added unauthorised vehicles on their routes.

In his testimony before the commission in 2019, Mamabolo had painted a bleak picture of an industry that was so prone to violence that hundreds of people are killed every year because of taxi-related conflicts.

The commission said another cause of violence was the encroachment of routes by operators of others.

The commission also said the taxi violence task team, which was formed to fight taxi-related criminality in the industry, was not sufficiently resourced.

The task team, composed of 12 detectives and headed by two senior officers, was intended to be temporary but had existed for more than 10 years.

“It is currently dealing with at least 505 open dockets that represent cases being investigated.”

On average, each detective has about 40 ongoing investigations to conclude. In the meantime, there are new cases of violence daily.

The commission said, to its credit, police management had already undertaken measures to address this problem by seeking to establish a permanent unit.

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