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Gender activists have called on the taxi industry to start vetting taxi drivers before employing them following a recent spike in the rapes of women by taxi employees.
They have also asked the industry to seriously consider hiring private security personnel at taxi ranks to protect women and children from abusive marshals and drivers.
Speaking in Johannesburg on Thursday at a panel discussion hosted by Soul City, Nonhlanhla Skosana of Sonke Gender Justice said incidents of verbal abuse, physical violence and sexual assault of girls and women at the hands of taxi drivers were not uncommon.
“Women live in fear because the same people employed as queue marshals end up committing crimes against women,” she said.
Bafana Magagula, chief strategic manager at the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco), acknowledged that there were serious problems in the taxi industry that needed urgent intervention.
“Our hands are often tied because of the laws and regulations of the country. For instance, we would like to hire private security to work in our taxi ranks but the law does not allow us. We once tried it and we were told to stop and accused of bringing izinkabi [hit men] to our ranks,” he said.
“We had to obey the law or they would have shut us down. On the issue of putting security guards on each taxi, that is impossible, just as it is to put guards in each and every house in South Africa,” he said.
The panel discussion was hosted in response to the recent rape of several women in taxis. One woman was raped in the back of a taxi in front of her 10-year-old son after boarding the taxi in Roodepoort.
Matokgo Makutoane, Soul City advocacy manager, said no woman should be raped, regardless of whether she’s wearing a mini skirt or travelling at midnight.
Nokuphumla Dineka of the Gauteng department of community safety said the department would address the matter of the closing down of its Green Door project which provided a safe space and counselling to survivors of sexual crimes. It was shut down because of insufficient security for volunteers.
