​Rofhiwa Marubini
Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Jacob Mamabolo on Thursday, 11 February released the Gauteng Taxi Violence report in Johannesburg.
The report emanates from the Commission that was setup by Premier David Makhura in 2019 to investigate the underlying reasons for the recurring violence, injuries and killings and instability within the taxi industry in Gauteng.
In the report, Mamabolo said the commission found many issues that led to the outbreak of violence in the industry such as the regulation of the industry, licensing and compliance of operators, criminality and prosecution of operators and the management and control of ranking facilities.
“The associations control who gets to join them, they control routes and dictate where each operator must operate. They also allow those without operating licenses to join them,” said Mamabolo.
The commission has found that the associations are currently not regulated as they we previously regulated under the National Land Transport Transition Act (NLTTA) and under Gauteng Public Pasenger Road Transport Act in the province, but now they are not regulated.
Mamabolo also explained that the industry had failed to conduct necessary background checks on the operators before they were handed their licenses.
“There have been instances of overlooking or not following up on evidence and witnesses, as well as not acting on the instructions of the prosecutors that led to the withdrawal of some of the charges,” said Mamabolo.