Urgent joint action by government authorities, ranging from law enforcement agencies to the tax man, is needed to break the stranglehold a small group has on the taxi sector, according to a recommendation by the commission of inquiry into the volatile Cape taxi industry.
The recommendation found that 40 individuals, representing both major taxi associations, control the industry, often from the fringes of legality. They are in charge of vetting new members, allocating routes and raising money for a variety of purposes such as members’ funerals or war chests.
On Monday the report will be submitted to Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool, who appointed the commission in May, in the wake of a murderous conflict over routes to the newly opened Cape Gateway mall. It will be up to the premier to release its findings and recommendations, as happened with the 2002 Desai commission of inquiry into bugging and political funding scandals in the provincial administration.
In recent weeks, at sometimes acrimonious public hearings, the commission unearthed a maze of levies charged by taxi associations at ranks and on routes, as well as specific demands for cash by the two mother bodies Cata (Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association) and Codeta (Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations).
Neither association provided the requested financial accounts to the commission.
Other key recommendations in the report include steps to ensure organisational and financial accountability of taxi associations, after their office bearers had told the commission that their constitutions were ”not for circulation”. It emphasises the need for better coordination between various law enforcement agencies and the city council, which is responsible for taxi ranks.
The commission has already had an impact on officials such as those at the Operators’ Licensing Board offices in Goodwood. Now, all staff who process applications for taxi permits must complete checklists to ensure that all necessary documents accompany applications. Previously delays of several months occurred regularly because a document was not included in the application.