Police oust tainted taxi team officers

The police are taking a strong stance against officers in a taxi violence task team found to be “compromised” by either corruption or direct involvement as industry players in the Gauteng taxi industry.

“Those who were found wanting were removed from the team,” police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said. “The remaining members in the task teams across all districts under the provincial organised crime investigating unit had since been beefed up, while management ensured a multidisciplinary configuration of the teams.”

Peters’ remarks came shortly after Gauteng roads and transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo released the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into Taxi Violence in Gauteng on Thursday.

“The approaches adopted by the police have encompassed prevention, combatting and investigating taxi violence.

“In support of this, Gauteng law enforcement agencies are working together as part of the intelligence-led task team put together by the commissioner across the problematic districts, especially in the metropolitans,” Peters said.

In a further response to the commission’s final report on its findings, Peters said the police adopted a proactive approach following provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela’s 2019 appointment and subsequent engagements with the commission’s evidence leaders.

Meanwhile, Mawela reaffirmed the police’s commitment to continue working hard to address the deficiencies the commission flagged to ensure the safety of commuters and the public. He also highlighted that their interventions had since yielded positive results.

“We have, since our interventions, observed a reduction in taxi violence in the province.

“However, we can never fool ourselves into becoming complacent in our efforts to deal decisively with violent crimes,” he said.

Mawela added that it was imperative they did not wait for the commission’s findings, but rather continued to work towards stabilising the violent industry.

“As such, work resumed as soon as we were alerted by the evidence leaders of the commission to disturbing issues in our space.

“Management of the Gauteng police, together with the national and provincial traffic police and metro and municipal departments, will do everything in our power to ensure that violence in the taxi industry is brought to a level of stability,” Mawela said.

A study of the final report issued by the commission was under way to ensure its findings were addressed urgently.