The commission of inquiry into taxi violence yesterday heard testimony from the head of the Transport Academy in Gauteng, Lebelo Maloka, who, like many officials who testified ahead of him, denounced the absence of the Gauteng transport department’s own law enforcement unit.

Responding to commissioner Hlula Msimang’s question on the department’s relationship with the South African Police Service (SAPS), Maloka told the commission that the department needs its own law enforcement unit.

“I’ve said it many times that we made a mistake when we separated the functions,” Maloka said.

The commission, which is investigating minibus taxi violence, fatalities and instability in the minibus taxi industry, heard that the department’s plans and that of the police were often at odds.

“What we planned, and what the police planned, would not be the same,” said Maloka.

Maloka said the services of the SAPS would only be necessary in specialised investigations relating to public transport. He said the department’s own law enforcement unit should be “part and parcel of the department of transport”.

The deputy director for conflict resolution registration and monitoring at the Gauteng Department of Transport, Peter Dhlamini, told the commission on 13 February that the department was in a state of desperation.

Both Dhlamini and the department’s assistant director for conflict resolution, Patrick Thembela Tutu, denounced the absence of law enforcement within the department. Dhlamini told the commission that the department’s law enforcement was moved to the department of safety in 2001.

See: Transport department is ‘in a state of desperation’

On his first day of testifying on 12 February 2020 Dhlamini told the commission that the SAPS  was not helpful. He said this had led to mistrust between police and some taxi associations who do not want police present when they resolve their conflicts.

See: Conflict resolution mechanism in disarray, inquiry into taxi violence told

Maloka told the commission that upon suspecting fraud in allocated routes, the department roped in the services of the Insurance Crime Bureau. Maloka said they asked for route verification after they had investigated 3,000 operators. 

“We were looking at fraud that might have taken place and many people were implicated as a result,” Maloka told the commission.

The commission continues on Thursday 19 March 2020, when the commission is set to hear testimony from the chairman of Boschkop Taxi Association, Japhta Mahlangu.

While nobody wore a mask or gloves, the commission restricted the number of attendees, including commissioners and assistants to below 30. DM