EDITORIAL | Taxi industry monster was created by a government without direction

The taxi industry is a crucial cog in South Africa's economy. It ferries more than 15-million commuters every day, ensuring they get to and from their destinations at an affordable price.

Without minibus taxis, the economy would effectively grind to a halt. The sector has filled the gap where a functioning public transport service should be but isn't. It has, to a large extent, privatised public transport.

There is an old saying that you should be careful what you feed the monster, because it may just eat you. It applies in some ways to the taxi industry, which has grown into a beast that has become difficult, if not impossible, to control.

While many taxi drivers and owners are simply entrepreneurs trying to make a living, the industry as a whole has been infiltrated by criminals, and its members have developed a reputation for being a law unto themselves.

What are the taxi associations themselves doing to root out these criminal elements who hide in their shadows? Their only real commitment seems to be to how much money they can make on any given day, with little regard to the safety of their passengers or respect for authorities.

Turf wars have sparked taxi violence that often spills over into the general population. Last week an 18-year-old second-year University of Johannesburg student was among three people killed when shooting broke out in Braamfontein. Another student was also shot but survived. The other two who died were taxi bosses who had just finished a taxi association meeting when a car drove past and the occupants opened fire.

The students are believed to have been hit by stray bullets. The teen who died was a BCom accounting major. His mother is a domestic worker, and his success was seen as a beacon of hope for his family. Their dream was wiped out because that student just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Life is cheap.

On Saturday two people were shot dead on Saturday in Zonkizizwe, near Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, in what police believe was a taxi violence hit.

Earlier this year, the KZN transport department had to caution taxi operators against taking the law into their own hands after some commuters said operators had tried to prevent them from using e-hailing taxi services, carpooling and even lift clubs. This kind of intimidation is well known among commuters in several provinces.

Long-distance buses have also been targeted by taxi bosses, who claim they are muscling in on their turf. According to Intercape, more than 165 cases of violence and intimidation have been opened by the police in connection with 176 attacks on its buses. Most of these cases happened in the Eastern Cape, where authorities appear disinterested in putting a stop to his thuggery.

Over the past decade, the industry has also become synonymous with hitmen for hire. Most recently, the men arrested for the murder of rapper Kiernan "AKA" Forbes are alleged to be notorious taxi bosses from KwaZulu-Natal. So too are the men linked to the murder of whistleblower Babita Deokaran, and those arrested for the murder of Senzo Meyiwa.

This week the South African National Taxi Council said it was concerned by the recent surge in violence cases connected to the taxi industry, and urged law enforcement to do more to find and arrest criminals that have “infiltrated the taxi industry”.

But what are the taxi associations themselves doing to root out these criminal elements who hide in their shadows? Their only real commitment seems to be to how much money they can make on any given day, with little regard to the safety of their passengers or respect for authorities.

The proliferation of the taxi industry has created a sector of society that believes it is above the law. And police appear unable to to clamp down on this criminality. The inability of the government to provide a safe, regulated public transport sector has given rise to a powerful monster that will continue to grow until it eats us all.