Latest news with #R5-billion
Daily Maverick
3 days ago
- Daily Maverick
Cape Town's taxi sector commits to new chapter that ‘cannot be written in blood'
Extortion, disputes over routes, and the infiltration by criminal syndicates using the taxi industry to launder money pose serious threats to an industry that generates billions of rands. The minibus taxi sector in Cape Town has long been marred by issues of violence, extortion and illegality as operators vie for a slice of the industry, estimated to be worth R5-billion to R7-billion in the Western Cape. Taxi violence started in the region during the 1990s, with taxi operators targeting the Golden Arrow Bus Service. Since then, the bodies have continued to pile up. On Monday, 4 August, South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) Western Cape chairperson Mandla Hermanus stated: 'We need to write a new chapter and it cannot be written in blood.' He was speaking at Santaco's Peace Summit in Cape Town, which brought together stakeholders to address the challenges undermining the taxi industry. One message that came through strongly from taxi operators and owners, religious leaders, the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape mobility MEC, Isaac Sileku, was that the killings, extortion and assassinations must end. Conflict resolution At the heart of violence — and the impact it has on commuters who rely on the services — are disputes over routes. Dr Siyabulela Fobosi, a senior researcher at the University of Fort Hare, believes that the violence can be curbed through the introduction of route-based conflict management mechanisms. Fobosi told Daily Maverick: 'Where these problems are happening, the routes are identified to say, 'Look, let's implement this conflict management there, that mechanism will be made up of a multitude of stakeholders. 'The issues are then identified. The conflict is identified in its early stages. The people are advised to practise mediation before it escalates into something that kills people.' He said the issue of route duplication must be addressed urgently, as licences are often issued without proper adherence to the law. 'We end up with too many operators on a single route. While competition is expected, it should be fair, not as cut-throat and hostile as it currently is.' Mobility MEC Sileku said his department had a five-year strategic plan to compel taxi owners and associations to register with municipalities, which would help prevent route invasions. He said there was a focus on establishing stakeholder engagement forums. The taxi industry has often been at odds with the City of Cape Town and Western Cape government, particularly over issues such as by-laws. Governments across South Africa have attempted to register and formalise the taxi industry, with Fobosi writing, 'Post-apartheid governments have failed to formalise or regulate the sector effectively, leaving it trapped in a liminal space: too essential to ignore, too unruly to reform.' Fobosi added, however, that formalising the industry was possible. A template Speakers at the Peace Summit pointed to a recent example of how conflict between operators was resolved through dialogue. In June, an agreement was reached between the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association and the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association to resolve route disputes and operational challenges on the Mfuleni-Somerset and Khayelitsha-Somerset West routes. Seven people were killed and five others injured in the conflict, but through dialogue, the associations resolved their disputes and came to a mutually beneficial agreement. Sileku said this agreement was a testament to what is possible when collective leadership and dialogue are prioritised and people, rather than taxi owners, are put first. Speaking about the Peace Summit, he said, 'This summit is long overdue. We have always dealt with taxi violence as it occurred. So now we have decided to sit down. Let's talk about it.' He highlighted how taxi violence affected commuters: 'A mother waits by the roadside for transport that never comes. A child loses a day of learning because a route is closed. A father does not return home because of a conflict he never chose. A community is left afraid. A family is left grieving. 'When mobility stops, life stops; there is no work, no school and no growth. That's why this summit is so important. A moment where we move from crisis to collaboration, from confrontation to partnership, from fear to a future we can all believe in.' He called on the taxi industry to rise above conflict and fear, and reiterated that the Western Cape government was not there to control or to dictate, but rather to build with the taxi industry. Tackling criminality Security strategist and former Interpol ambassador Andy Mashaile stressed the importance of protecting the taxi industry from infiltration by cartels, syndicates and criminal elements. 'Those are the people who are involved in money laundering, racketeering … those with the money of cash-in-transit heists.' 'Because those individuals want to clean their money, they will, for example, say: 'Here is your gift of R10-million; go and buy yourself some taxis.' That money that came in filthy has now been cleaned because the source of the money cannot now be identified,' said Mashaile. He added that with such vast sums of money involved, the industry was bound to attract organised crime. He called for the implementation of an integrity pact that all taxi associations must sign, which would trigger lifestyle audits on owners. Santaco's Hermanus proposed introducing a cashless system to help the industry deal with extortion. 'There is also the infiltration of the minibus industry by criminal elements, the issue of extortion by gangsters, and also instances of criminal elements within the industry itself extorting members from their own associations. This leads to violence. 'This is why we are discussing a cashless system, because we believe that if we remove cash from the taxi ranks, we will be able to deal with the issue where committee members or executives of associations want to take money from the association and use it for their own ends while eliminating anyone who tries to stop them from doing so,' he said. Hermanus emphasised the importance of vetting minibus taxi operators and drivers. The government, he said, already had those mechanisms in place. 'It is simply a matter of working with us to ensure criminal elements are eliminated,' he said. 'The only thing to do is to deregister that driver from our system — when the registration and vetting kicks you out, then you automatically become deregistered… If you have a criminal record, it is important to look at how long ago it occurred. Rehabilitation will play a critical role.' DM
Daily Maverick
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Kenny Kunene and the growing gangsterisation of our politics
The discovery of Johannesburg councillor and deputy Patriotic Alliance leader Kenny Kunene in the company of the person wanted for paying for DJ Sumbody to be killed is a symbol of our times. It demonstrates the growing criminalisation, or some might call 'gangsterisation', of our politics. This has the potential to completely destabilise our politics, never mind all of the other consequences for our economy and our country. The fact that Kenny Kunene was found with Katiso 'KT' Molefe, who is accused of being the mastermind behind the hit on DJ Sumbody (Oupa John Sefoka), may well have surprised very few people. While Kunene claims that he has mended his ways since serving time in jail, his behaviour has shown in the past that he still has links to this community. It is true that people voted for the Patriotic Alliance knowing the history of both Kunene and its leader Gayton McKenzie. None of what they have done was a secret. But it may be a sign that the PA has ambitions of becoming more mainstream that McKenzie has now 'suspended' Kunene from 'all politics' for a month. That said, McKenzie's public proclamation that 'We already know… that he is innocent' may well cast doubt on the real integrity of the investigation he is now going to institute. Of course both men have a long history of dirty politics. The two were suspected of being behind the publishing of claims in Iqbal Surve's Sunday Independent that President Cyril Ramaphosa had had an affair in 2017, during the run-up to the ANC's Nasrec Conference. Certainly, from the vantage point of this writer at the time, they were acting against Ramaphosa. This was probably explained by the fact McKenzie and Kunene had been selected, presumably by then president Jacob Zuma, as BEE partners for a R5-billion gas and oil deal in Russia. So close was their relationship with Zuma at the time that they appeared close to being able to appoint their councillor Leanne Williams as national police commissioner (in a subsequent radio interview Williams confirmed she had gone through the process of being vetted, despite having no previous experience in policing). Of course, considering Zuma's relationship with the Guptas, and his enablement of their theft from us, it is pretty obvious that they would have the same interests. Ties that bind One major change is that the links between criminals and our politics are growing closer. The claims by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi that former police minister Senzo Mchunu is involved with criminals, are just the latest manifestation of this. The history of this is long and sordid, including Jackie Selebi's conviction for taking money from Glenn Agliotti, and Schabir Shaik's conviction for paying bribes to Zuma in 2005. The other big shift is that people are entering politics having become part of criminal networks first. In Joburg, the ANC's Chief Whip, Sithembiso Zungu, is accused of leading what is essentially a construction mafia group. This is part of a bigger process as some of the groups come out of the shadows and are trying to change from 'construction mafias' to 'business forums'. At the same time, other changes in our politics have made this kind of move, from criminality to political office, much easier. Firstly, parties like the ANC are weaker than they've ever been, and thus are easier to join. And, for various reasons, it is now easier to rise to certain positions, partly because there is less competition, and partly because this involves internal campaigning and thus money. Of course, it is also possible to start your own party and actually have an influence in a metro like Joburg (where seven parties have just one seat) or Mangaung (where the ANC has been unable to discipline its members). But what may really be enabling this is the fact that those in the national government, right at the top, are lacking the legitimacy to really stop this from happening. Ramaphosa was happy to include the PA in his coalition for important political reasons. This is despite knowing their history (and the fact that Kunene was probably instrumental in revealing excruciatingly embarrassing details about his personal life). Unfortunately, Ramaphosa himself is accused of breaking the law. While the South African Police Service, the Public Protector and the SA Reserve Bank have all, magically, cleared him of wrongdoing over Phala Phala, the stench still lingers. And what can be more gangsta than storing cash in a sofa and appearing to forget about it? Democracy undermined The impact of all of this on our society is fundamental and profound. Businesses cannot operate. And they cannot know how to protect their workers and assets in the face of a criminal state. Outsurance is a recent example of this. It emerged last month that a claim it paid out on a car after a reported accident was actually fraudulent. The company that had paid the insurance premiums turned out to be a front for an SANDF Special Forces unit. That unit is accused of killing Hawks investigator Frans Mathipa, using the car in the hit. They are then accused of deliberately destroying it. How can Outsurance conduct its business not knowing if a company it has signed a contract with is not actually an arm of the state that is killing people? For voters the damage is even worse. If there is no trust in politicians, then there can be no trust in the criminal justice system they oversee. But worse, if people are now entering politics to extend their criminal empires, the entire democratic project gets undermined. This will encourage and enable the rise of people who will promise to use violence against crime. Groups involving criminals will do this too, claiming to be speaking for their communities (the PA has arguably done this already, campaigning to reinstate the death penalty for crimes like murder; of course, they do not foresee a situation where one of their own could be accused of theft or corruption). In the end the competition will be for who can be seen as the toughest, or the most violent, against crime. That then sows the seeds for some kind of 'strongman' politics, where people will make the most extreme promises. In the meantime, the social ties and rules that are supposed to ensure some kind of fairness will simply break down. It will be rule by the strong. Where the weak will have no option but to either cower, or use violence themselves. Kunene is by no means the only politician connected to criminality. This incident is merely the latest expression of it. But our society appears to be heading in a very dangerous direction. And we are moving there very quickly indeed. DM
IOL News
30-06-2025
- IOL News
Former Transnet executives granted R50,000 bail over Gupta-linked corruption charges
The four appeared at the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court in Ekurhuleni on Monday about a R5-billion fraudulent locomotives deal. Four former Transnet executives, Brian Molefe, Siyabonga Gama, Anoj Singh, and Thamsanqa Jiyane, have been granted R50,000 bail each following alleged corruption linked to the Guptas. The matter will return to court in October to allow for final investigations. The four appeared at the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court in Ekurhuleni on Monday in connection with a R5-billion fraudulent locomotives deal. This is after they handed themselves over to the police on Monday morning. They are facing criminal charges in connection with a controversial R93-million payment tied to the Gupta family's business interests. The payment, flagged during the State Capture Commission, relates to a 2015 contract initially awarded to a separate supplier for over 1,000 locomotives.
eNCA
30-06-2025
- eNCA
Four Transnet-corruption accused granted bail
JOHANNESBURG - The four accused in the R5-billion Transnet corruption case have been granted bail. READ: Former Transnet executives arrested Former Transnet executives, Brian Molefe, Siyabonga Gama, Anoj Singh and Thamsanqa Jiyane, have appeared in court on Monday. They face charges linked to a controversial locomotive deal worth more than R90-million. The case was also highlighted in state capture investigations. The four accused were granted R500,000 bail each.
eNCA
27-06-2025
- Climate
- eNCA
Government declares Eastern Cape floods a national disaster
GQEBERHA - A National Disaster has been declared in the Eastern Cape, unlocking much need assistance for flood affected communities. READ: Search efforts continue as cold front hits Eastern Cape Provincial government says over R5-billion is needed to repair damaged infrastructure. At least 101 people have been killed and nearly 5,000 others are homeless. Meanwhile, the search for two missing children continues. Eastern Cape Cogta MEC Zolile Williams discussed this with eNCA.
