{"id":814501,"date":"2025-02-27T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=814501"},"modified":"2025-02-27T14:02:21","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T12:02:21","slug":"war-declared-on-mafia-taking-hold-on-south-africas-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/814501\/war-declared-on-mafia-taking-hold-on-south-africas-roads\/","title":{"rendered":"War declared on mafia taking hold on South Africa’s roads"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Gauteng provincial government has its crosshairs on taxi operators using mafia-style tactics, and it has been elevated to the province\u2019s war room to be urgently addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taxi operators in South Africa are increasingly using mafia-style tactics<\/a> to intimidate and extort private citizens, schools, and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These aggressive actions have drawn criticism from politicians, civil society, and law enforcement agencies, but regulatory bodies have responded weakly, allowing the problem to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent investigations by Carte Blanche exposed disturbing incidents where taxi operators regularly threaten and use violence in some cases to control passenger transport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes targeting private transport providers, schools, and even individuals offering lifts to family members or coworkers with the excuse they do it to protect their livelihoods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These incidents have been reported all over the country, including Limpopo, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, and Mpumalanga, where taxi enforcers patrol roads and aggressively confront private motorists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The e-hailing industry has also been the target of taxi associations for several years now, with taxi operators resorting to violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2023, several Uber drivers\u2019 cars were torched outside malls in Soweto following a dispute with the local Taxi Association, which accused the e-hailing services of stealing their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) defended these patrols as a security measure to safeguard their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mpumalanga chairperson Fanyana Sibanyoni argued that private motorists carrying passengers without a permit infringe on taxi operators\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, National police commissioner Fanie Masemola clarified that taxi enforcers have no legal right to stop vehicles or impose fines, and their actions constitute harassment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite SANTACO\u2019s acknowledgement that these actions damage the industry’s reputation, taxi associations rarely impose consequences on members who engage in intimidation and extortion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gauteng traffic police spokesperson Sello Morani stressed that taxi operators have no right to stop vehicles or demand payments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While over 50 arrests were made last year, law enforcement alone has proven insufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem escalated to “war” room <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Speaking with 702<\/a>, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi acknowledged the alarming behaviour of many taxi drivers, which the Premier labelled as \u201cbullying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There is a broader concern surrounding the taxi industry, noting that some associations act as if they are a law unto themselves,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe need to render services in our communities is crucial, but unfortunately, there are grey lines in how the taxi industry operates,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesufi further pointed out that school transport drivers have raised concerns about the taxi industry attempting to take over their market, creating serious tension within the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to specific instances of violence, he noted that a serious conflict is unfolding across the province, particularly in Zonkizizwe, which has been brought to the government’s attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe entire issue of taxi violence has been escalated to our war room, and we are actively working on solutions,\u201d Lesufi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that he had not yet made a public pronouncement on certain matters because the government prefers to act on concrete evidence and implement measures that will have a lasting impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is an urgent need to intervene in the taxi industry,\u201d he said. He also cited the example of Soweto, where, for almost a year, residents could not use taxis due to violent disputes between taxi associations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesufi also assured the public that the provincial government is taking these issues seriously and working toward long-term solutions to restore order and safety in the transport sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Gauteng provincial government has its crosshairs on ‘mafia-style’ taxi operators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":811449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1652,19384,3382],"class_list":["post-814501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-gauteng","tag-panyaza-lesufi","tag-taxis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814501"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":814542,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814501\/revisions\/814542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}