MP Gotsell calls for probe into SAPS members’ alleged taxi-industry interests

NewsSportLifestyleEntertainmentOpinionNewsMP Gotsell calls for probe into SAPS members’ alleged taxi-industry interestsChris Gilili|Published 21 minutes agoCopy to ClipboardAsk AICLAMPDOWN: Police have hands full amid taxi violence

Member of Parliament’s Select Committee on Security and Justice and the National Portfolio Committee on Police, Nicholas Gotsell, has called on police to clamp down on members with alleged ties to the taxi industry.

​Violent flare-ups between rival taxi associations in Cape Town this week have left commuters stranded and the South African Police Service (SAPS) is investigating deadly shootings in targeted hits.

​With SAPS and the City of Cape Town announcing a joint operation to curb the violence on Friday, Gotsell questioned whether police members with alleged personal and financial interests in the taxi industry can be trusted.

​Gotsell was speaking to IOL Media just after the Integrated Law Enforcement agencies within the City held a media briefing about how they are planning to respond to the ongoing taxi violence in Cape Town.

​“At a time when taxi violence is threatening innocent lives across the Western Cape, how many of the taxi owners involved in these disputes are themselves SAPS members who have been allowed to retain their unlawful financial interests in the taxi industry?” Gotsell asked.

​He said the DA, which leads the City of Cape Town, has already exposed numerous SAPS members, including members of specialised units, with interests in the taxi industry.

​Gotsell wysed: “We know that criminal and disciplinary proceedings were instituted against more than 20 members.”

​He said SAPS should answer in terms of what has happened to those cases and how many of them have actually been dismissed.

​Gotsell added: “More importantly, they must explain how many of these members have interests in CATA or CODETA, the very associations at the centre of the current violence. And have any of them been involved in policing operations, intelligence gathering or investigations concerning these disputes?”

​He said the SAPS cannot effectively investigate taxi-related violence while any of its own members have a financial interest in the outcome of those investigations.

​He said before SAPS management congratulates itself on its response to taxi violence, it needs to tell the public what it has done to clean up its own ranks.

​“The question is not only whether SAPS can protect commuters from violent taxi operators. It is also whether SAPS has ensured that none of those responsible for policing the taxi industry has a personal financial stake in it,” he added.

​With SAPS and the DA-led City law enforcement agencies working closely to arrest the taxi-related conflict, Gotsell also called on Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia to grant local government investigative powers.  

​He said Cachalia should recognise that this cooperation could become a permanent force multiplier in the fight against crime if he expanded policing powers.