WE WILL PULL NO PUNCHES IF YOU BLOCK THE ROADS

No one is above the law and will be allowed to operate with impunity. This is the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport’s response to a threat by some taxi associations to blockade some streets and roads in the province due to their displeasure with Operation Shanela.

The success of the recently launched Operation Shanela, spearheaded by the Public Transport Enforcement Unit (PTEU) of the KZN DoT, seems to be ruffling a few feathers in the taxi industry.

The reported meeting by the taxi associations in Durban on Thursday 07 November 2002 bears testimony to that effect.

It is surprising that just after the two major rivals in the long distant taxi operators had reconciled yesterday, there are other people who want to resort to more disruptions. However, the Department of Transport wishes to clarify a few things about Operation Shanela (meaning Sweep).

When the democratically elected government took over in 1994, the taxi industry which is the biggest black controlled and owned business in the country, was unregulated and uncontrolled. When the legalisation process in the taxi industry started in 1998, of the 21 000 taxis operating in KZN 13 000 were illegal. This led to a lot of problems among those was taxi related violence that claimed a lot of lives. It is a known fact that business does not flourish where the socio-political circumstances are negative.

To assist the taxi business to grow and reduce the amount of violence in the industry whereby the majority of victims were innocent commuters, a lot of measures were taken by the government, particular the Department of Transport in KZN. One of those measures was to instigate the establishment of the Alexander Taxi Commission to look into the killings in the industry. Among many recommendations the Alexander commission observed that one of the major causes of taxi related violence was the fighting over profitable routes.

As the commission was continuing with its investigations, the legalisation process that would allow the legitimisation of taxi owners and associations into bonafide operators was under way. In the period between November 2000 and July 2002 of the 10 000 route permits issued by the Transportation Board only 4000 were collected by the applicants, leaving 6000 permits lying uncollected at the boards offices. However this situation changed when the enforcement started and thousands of Operators saw the seriousness of authorities in enforcing an array of laws governing the public transport industry.

The sole objective of the permit administration system is to bring order and stability in the taxi industry. It provides an objective basis for government to regulate the industry and to enforce compliance. Route grabbing and privacy has been the source of the violent conflicts within the industry. The route-based permit system and its enforcement are the only remedies we have in removing the scourge of violence amongst taxi operators. Without these instruments, government will be hamstrung in its effort to regulate the taxi industry.

The birth of the PTEU in August followed a long and intense consultation process with legitimately and democratically elected taxi represented from the KwaZulu-Natal Taxi Council (KWANATACO) and other stakeholders including the SAPS and SANDF.

‘We will ensure that anyone who blockades any road in this province faces the full might of the law. The PTEU, SAPS, Metro Police and SANDF will not allow benefits that have been accrued so far to be eroded,’ said the KZN DoT head of department Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa.

This unit and its operation’s objectives have never been made secret. They have been done to protect the commuter and the legal operators. Anyone who wants to return this province to a backward and productive past due to violence should be seen for what they are, said Dr Mbanjwa.

ISSUED BY: Thabang Chiloane

Chief Director: Public Safety and Communication

Cell: 082 8055 748

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