Sexual violence in SA: women share stories about dangers of commuting on minibus taxis

Millions of people use minibus taxis to get around South Africa every day. These “pillars of public transport”, which are privately owned and run rather than operated by the state, account for 66.5% of public transport on the country’s roads.

The vast majority of minibus taxi commuters come from lower-income and historically marginalised communities that still bear the brunt of apartheid era spatial planning. They often don’t live close to their offices or schools and typically experience longer commuting times.

Taxis are not necessarily safe for women. They are like so many other public spaces in a country with some of the world’s highest rates of sexual violence and murder of women by men.

Women’s lives in South Africa are often characterised by the threat of sexual violence. Research about homes, schools, workplaces and university campuses has consistently highlighted how the threat of sexual harassment and violence makes women feel unsafe in the everyday spaces they occupy and move through.

Less attention has focused on women’s experiences of feeling unsafe in the mobile spaces they use for daily commuting. This is surprising, considering the reports of women being subjected to sexual harassment and acts of assault when commuting.

To address this gap, I conducted a study that explored women’s experiences of feeling threatened with sexual violence while commuting on minibus taxis and what they did to reduce the risks.

My findings could be used by the government, the minibus taxi industry and commuter rights groups to help make commuting safer for women.

The research also highlights commuting systems and transport networks are not gender neutral or unaffected by the threat of sexual violence women face daily in South Africa.

Using a small sample of participants so I could explore their experiences in depth, I interviewed 14 women who used minibus taxis daily.

All the participants were students at a university in Gauteng and were aged between 19 and 32. All 14 relied on minibus taxis to get to and from their residences, campus, part-time places of work and places where they socialised or relaxed.

The participants all said they often felt anxious and hypervigilant when commuting. This echoes research which has pointed to the “enduringly stressful impact of minibus taxi commuting” for women.

One of the foremost issues to arise was the trade-off between safety and convenience. One participant said: “If I finish a shift [at work] at 10 or 11 [at night], only [minibus] taxis are still on at that time, so it’s the most convenient thing for me to use. If I didn’t have to use it I wouldn’t. It’s stressful, but I don’t have any option that’s that convenient. You don’t feel safe.”

The participants all developed a finely tuned sense of their usual routes, relying on this sense when evaluating their safety as a taxi trip unfolded, especially if they found themselves commuting at night or if alone. One said: “All I can do is try monitor what’s going on. Is the driver going down the right road? What turn-off does he take? Is it the usual route? Is he going slow or speeding up?”

The close confines of minibus taxis, which have a legal capacity of between 10 and 15 passengers, sometimes led to fraught interactions with men. One told me: “As a woman you never use much space on a seat because some guys will sit next to you and they just push their legs open. Like wide. Their one leg will push against your leg. Even if you’re uncomfortable with it. He will always force his leg against yours. It can be intimidating. You can feel he expects you to give him that room on the seat.”

The interviewees viewed being unsafe, whether on taxis or anywhere else, as part of their everyday lived experience as women in South Africa. This was poignantly expressed by one woman when she mentioned the 2019 murder of Cape Town university student Uyinene Mrwetyana in a post office building: “As a South African woman I’m always on guard. Taxi, bus, train — it’s like any other place in this country. You can get raped anywhere. Even if you’re just at the post office, like Uyinene. A man can get you anywhere. It’s come to that point where you must automatically assume any man who sits next to you wants to rape you.”

So what can be done?

First, violence against women arises in a context where it’s normal to devalue women. That must change, or the threat of sexual violence will persist, regardless of how women commute.

Second, the design of commuter transport infrastructure, particularly for the minibus taxi industry, needs to be reimagined through a gendered perspective. Public transport projects should make sure taxi ranks and stops are well lit, equipped with surveillance, and designed with clear sightlines. Trained public safety personnel and emergency communication systems should be part of the planning.

There is also an urgent need for a broader range of safe, affordable and efficient public transport options. The decline of reliable public transport, in particular urban bus and rail services, has turned many commuters into “transit captives” of the minibus taxi industry.

Most public transport users in South Africa are women. They should have more safe, efficient and affordable options to choose from.

Last, it’s crucial to work with the men who dominate the minibus taxi industry — who own and drive taxis — to create safer commuting environments for women.

• Jarred H Martin is a senior lecturer in clinical psychology at the University of Pretoria

• This article was first published in The Conversation