SPEECH BY THE HONOURABLE MEC FOR TRANSPORT, KWAZULU-NATAL, MR SIBUSISO NDEBELE, ON PRESENTING THE KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCIAL ROADS BILL TO THE KWAZULU-NATAL PARLIAMENT

21 February 2001, Ulundi Legislature

Honourable Minister Dullah Omar
Justice Gerald Alexander
Members of the Commission
Mr Steve Mabona - MEC for Transport, Mpumalanga Province
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me at the outset thank the members of the Commission for the invaluable work they are doing towards our efforts at achieving stability and harmony within the taxi industry. The Commission's findings and recommendations will indeed be eagerly studied and deliberated upon with the due urgency and importance they deserve. Those who are committed to the achievement of a democratic taxi industry which could carry out in earnest its responsibility of contributing to the greater economic and social good of our province would, I am sure, be looking forward to good guidance on travelling the road ahead.

When the Judicial Taxi Commission of Inquiry into taxi violence was constituted in April last year by decision of Cabinet, it arguably marked the culmination of several previous attempts by my Department to resolve the conflicts that were engulfing the taxi industry. The incidents of open warfare between feuding parties, though sporadic in recent times, were threatening the very fabric of the relative peace and stability that were filtering through a province which, for the greater part of the past two decades enjoyed the dubious distinction of being the "kingdom of violence".

Since the advent of democratic government in 1994, we can lay fair claim to having sown the seeds of relative stability in many key issues of governance. There is a general air of optimism for the future which has dispelled the overwhelmingly dark clouds of despair, to reveal the bright new sunshine that has broken through the clouds. The potential that we as a province have to become a premier hub of social and economic prosperity has begun to bloom. It is sad, therefore, that every so often we are rudely reminded about our bitter past, when the sporadic dark clouds of conflict within the taxi industry gather to threaten the long and arduous journey we have struggled over and to instil again in the hearts and minds of our people, the fear and insecurity that was once entrenched into their psyche by the past regime. The violence within the taxi industry has regrettably begun to take centre stage, threatening to undermine the success of the peace efforts sustained on a wider level in our province and in the process violating the constitutional right of our taxi commuters to travel in peace and safety.

There is no doubt that the underlying causes of the problems within the taxi industry were subsumed by the general climate of fear and insecurity that violence of the past political sort had wrought on our people. These roots of the problem are now unleashing themselves in a way which serves to expose the really parlous state under which the industry had been operating all along. In the past, the problems were touted by the previous regimes yet another example of how Blacks were unable to manage anything even if they took control of it themselves.

There is enough evidence, also, to suggest that the oppressors of the past thrived on the manifestation of such violence as another source of distraction from the greater struggle for justice in which our country was engaged. The causes of the problems were relegated under the cloud of contrived ignorance and distortion of the truth that past political subjugation guaranteed the oppressors. In its place was cultivated its manifestation, reflected through gory pictures of taxi violence, accidents and other graphic misrepresentations of the total picture.

In the circumstances, there is something more fundamental than the right to safe, secure and efficient transport that is being undermined by the violence. If we accept that the taxi industry is indeed the flagship for Black economic empowerment, we are in danger of compromising the whole programme of the reconstruction and development of our province towards the social and economic prosperity that we are all striving for.

Transport, in general serves as the nerve fibres of a society engaged in the task of healing itself. These fibres carry the lifeblood of political, social and economic re-generation, the pillars that constitute the challenge of transforming ourselves as a nation that could ultimately co-exist with one another within the grand design of becoming empowered. If we were to continue to wallow in the trap of bemoaning the fact that we are bleeding, we could drown in that very blood without having dared to identify and appropriately deal with those who are wielding the knife to the jugular. It might then be too late to realise that it is not only the taxi industry that would die a miserable death, the very economic and social foundations of our new democracy would have been destroyed in the process.

It is in this context that the work of the Judicial Taxi Commission of Inquiry takes on a meaning and importance that transcends the mere resolution of conflicts between taxi power-mongers. Its work has relevance for the very future fabric of our province. When national Minister of Justice, Mr Penuell Maduna, appointed Mr Justice Gerald Alexander in June 2000 to head the Commission, it enjoyed full powers to deal with all aspects of taxi violence. The Commission was tasked with ensuring that those taxi operators and drivers, and their associates, who are involved in taxi violence and other criminal activities are arrested and prosecuted. To this end, the Commission is linked to the Special Prosecutions Unit and to a Special Police Investigative Unit. Those involved in financial extortion and the hiring of hit squads to maintain control of associations can expect the Commission to eventually catch up with them.

Implicit in the injunction to the Commission was the need to not only cleanse the industry of all criminal elements which were responsible for problems such as killings, maimings, bribery, corruption and protection rackets, but also to investigate the systemic and structural causes of the violence. Specific clusters of conflict perpetration, such as those arising through control of long-distance route networks, rural and urban-based groups and inter-associational tensions were earmarked for investigation. The main focus areas of conflict viz., Empangeni, Eshowe, Ulundi/Mahlabatini, the Durban Long Distance Taxi Association, Cato Manor/Chesterville, and Dalton, were identified.

We have previously described the Commission as the TRC of the taxi industry in KZN, since it is only after we have succeeded in establishing the truth behind what is causing the violence that we would be able to help reconcile the differences between the warring parties. The important questions of why the violence exists, what forms it takes, who is behind the violence, what should be done to dispel this dark cloud on a province that is at last beginning to smile at itself, and what can be done in the interim to minimise the major points of tension, are all issues which have fallen on the shoulders of this Commission. Our expectations on it, therefore, would seem to be more demanding than one would ordinarily entrust upon a commission. The long and the short of it is that unless we are blessed with recommendations which are creative, innovative and ground-breaking, we might sooner or later recede into a chaos caused by the trap of recidivism that seems to constitute the den of certain elements within the taxi industry. I am pleased, therefore, that in this respect we have received today some valuable recommendations to nurture our cautious optimism that the violence within the taxi industry will be brought to a definitive end.

Having said that, it would perhaps be appropriate to briefly survey the circumstances under which the Judicial Taxi Commission of Inquiry was appointed to undertake its work. When I was sworn in as MEC of Transport in May 1994, it was clear to me that the problem of violence in the taxi industry was merely one facet of the many obstacles that beset it. The complex structural foundations and weaknesses in the industry lay at the very heart of problems related to the then inadequate registration process and the undemocratic practices dictating the taxi associations, all of which pointed to the need for the industry to be regulated, re-structured, transformed, and contextualised into the potential it held for serving as a vehicle of empowerment, in terms of economic growth and sustainable development.

The history of transport for Blacks has been particularly painful for the great deprivations they faced in obtaining suitable transport, especially for those who were forced to migrate to and from the cities. There was no financial assistance, encouragement or incentive for Blacks to develop their own industry. Thus, the minibus taxi industry is today a triumph of the Black entrepreneurial spirit. In the light of the fact that the industry is central to the economic growth, development and upliftment of the historically disadvantaged, it was necessary for a two-pronged strategy to be implemented in dealing with the problems within the industry. The first was to institute mechanisms to resolve short-term problems as they arose, and the second was to develop the political, legislative and administrative frameworks and capacity to transform the industry. These have been receiving on-going attention and it is pleasing to note that major successes have been scored in this regard.

However, the lack of organisational discipline within the industry, which has obviously caused commuters great anger and frustration in addition to threats to their lives and well-being, have hampered our various efforts towards achieving stability. Previous commissions and inquiries into taxi violence recorded successes in varying degrees, but the overall problems of systemic, structural and criminal violence remain. The four areas identified by the Provincial Taxi Task Team formed in late 1996, viz. formalisation of the industry, conflict resolution, education and training, and economic empowerment, are still in need of fulfilment.

Against this background, however, it is also pleasing to note that we are beginning to achieve clarity among the various law enforcement agencies in tackling the unresolved issues. The initiatives emerging from national government level, such as the Taxi Recapitalisation Project and democratisation of the industry, are cause for optimism for the future. Given the nature of the conflict in KwaZulu-Natal, however, we need to create a special unit which could work out a comprehensive strategy to tackle the problems. Such a strategy would have to touch on, inter alia, identification of the key perpetrators of the violence and dealing with them, targeted law enforcement, and road traffic violations. For this enforcement to be effective, we are finalising the legislative process so that, within the next two months, all operators will have enforceable permits defining their routes.

Coupled with this will be the consolidation of business structures in order to begin the process of real economic empowerment for the taxi industry. Empowerment elements will involve the consolidation of the co-operatives and the development of the maintenance facilities. All these could be facilitated because of the democratic and representative structures which have been elected. A new leadership is expected to join with government and agree on a comprehensive visionary strategy that could place the industry at the economic centre of the province.

Despite the occasional dark clouds, we have cause to be optimistic. In this regard, I am thankful that the Interim Report of the Commission has offered us substantive guidance on the road from here. I would like to assure you that the report will be submitted to cabinet in due course for deliberation. Upon acceptance of any recommendation, the issues which require urgent attention will be identified. I as Minister will make the appropriate announcements.

I once again thank the members of the Commission and all the staff for their dedication and efforts. In addition, we are beholden to the various individuals and groups who appeared before the Commission and/or provided information in other ways. They have indeed, shared some light on important aspects of the problem. We have as our guide the singularly important goal of improving the quality of life of our people. We cannot allow conflicts of the sort that have been manifesting themselves in the taxi industry to detract us from our mission. The full spectrum of the problems, that is, both their causes and their manifestations, need to be dealt with thoroughly, forcefully and effectively, within the bounds of the democratic mandate we enjoy to consult with all stakeholders involved. At the same time, we need to declare that the road to economic prosperity and empowerment for all our people towards a better quality of life is non-negotiable.

Thank you.

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