Evidence wa ka Ngobeni
The report on taxi violence in Gauteng released this week catalogues extraordinary details of police officers in Pretoria joining forces with taxi assassins, even escorting them in police Casspirs.
The report reveals details of how police officials leased government property, including firearms, bulletproof vests and police uniforms, to taxi associations for use in their attacks against rivals.
In one of the cases, the weapons-leasing syndicate went terribly wrong. According to the document, drawn up by the Gauteng provincial government, a policeman shot and killed a policewoman after fighting over the proceeds of their weapon loans.
The inquiry also says police participated in the actual attacks against taxi drivers and owners. The report reveals that on July 15 1997, police officials at Rietgat police station, near Pretoria, joined with several taxi owners who were kitted out in police equipment and went on a shooting spree at a Soshanguve taxi rank.
The report also reveals that police officials were paid by taxi bosses to supply the names of witnesses of taxi- related crimes so that they could be killed in a bid to cover them up.
Police officials say arrests of corrupt police implicated in the report are imminent, but names of the officers have yet to be made public. Superintendent Roy Govender says the findings of the Gauteng probe could assist police to crack down on the Mafia-like syndicate causing taxi violence.
“We are fully aware that some police officials have interests in the taxi industry but there is nothing we can do to stop them. Those police officers who owned taxis have changed ownership and put it in their relatives’ names, but they themselves get the profits,” says Govender, adding that although allegations that police are participating in the taxi violence in Pretoria emerged a few years ago, no police have ever been arrested.
Since 1994, a membership row and turf wars over taxi routes between the Soshanguve Taxi Owners Association (Sotoa) and the Soshanguve Local and Long Distance Taxi Association (Solldta) have claimed an estimated 1 500 to 3 000 lives.
Govender, who is based in Pretoria and working on taxi violence, says eight suspects affiliated to Sotoa have been arrested in connection with the killing of two Solldta members and the wounding of two others.
Govender says the eight suspects were caught after they were identified by one of the wounded victims, the chair of Solldta, who was sprayed with bullets during a drive-by shooting.
However, Govender says the situation is complex: “It does not really stand to suggest that it is two groups at war in Pretoria.” In fact, he says, “there have been several situations where people were killed by their own organisations. The term they use is to `score an own goal’.”
Government officials say a copy of the report has been handed to National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka for further investigation.
The report has targeted Rietgat, Soshanguve and Phutanong police stations for investigation. A review of police dockets related to taxi violence and unresolved deaths associated with the industry will also be conducted.
The commission found that the causes of violence included the absence of regulatory mechanisms for the running of taxi ranks, and extortion of money from taxi operators.
This resulted in the hiring of contract assassins, and police ownership of taxis and membership in some taxi associations.