Issued by: Office of the Premier Gauteng Province
12 October 1999
THE FINAL REPORT: COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO THE CAUSES OF TAXI VIOLENCE AND RELATED UNRESOLVED DEATHS IN GAUTENG PROVINCE
This Commission was established under the hand of my predecessor on 09 February 1999.
As you may be aware a report of the Commission has been submitted to me. The report was formally presented to me on 15 September 1999. In terms of section 8 of the Provincial Commissions Act, I am required to submit such reports to the Speaker within 30 da ys of the said date so that the report can be tabled before the Legislature.
For the reasons set out below, I found myself in a difficult situation regarding strict compliance with the letter of the law in relation to releasing the report. As the 30 day period set date will expire soon, I decided to discuss the manner in which I in tended to deal with the report with all the political parties represented in the Legislature.
My concerns regarding the release of the report relate to the following:
1: Two witnesses were killed during the hearings of the Commission. One witness was killed after testifying before the Commission and the other was killed before he could testify.
2: Ongoing and potential investigations into taxi violence will be prejudiced if the identities of actual and potential witnesses are revealed.
In view of my concerns I consulted with the Speaker and the National Director of Public Prosecutions to seek guidance on how to deal with this matter. It was as a result of their responses that I decided to meet with the political parties.
In the light of the above copies of an executive summary of the Commission's report were handed to the political parties.
The meeting agreed that the report could not be released in its current form for the reasons set out above. I subsequently decided that it would be irresponsible of me to release the report in its current form. Consequently the report will be sent back to the Commission who will be requested to draft it in a manner which takes the above concerns into account. However, all the recommendations of the Commission are already being implemented.
I wish to record that I acknowledge that the Provincial Commissions Act requires all reports to be tabled before the Legislature. However, on the basis of legal opinion, I still believe that the dictates of public policy allow me to ensure that the objecti ves of transparency do not unduly undermine the critical objectives of promoting public safety and the prevention of taxi violence in our communities. Strict compliance with the legislation will lead to absurdity in that this would most certainly result in the adverse consequences I refer to above. The Provincial Commissions Act could not have been intended to undermine the very public policy objectives it seeks to promote.
Further, clause 12 of the regulations in the schedule to the terms of reference of the Commission, in recognition of public policy provides that:
"whenever the Commission is satisfied upon evidence or information presented to it that the Commission's inquiry may adversely affect an existing, instituted or pending legal proceedings or any investigation instituted in terms of any law, evidence which i s relevant to such legal proceedings or investigation shall be dealt with by the Commission in a manner as not to affect adversely such legal proceedings or investigation"
I believe that in our joint endeavour to prevent violence in our society and to bring perpetrators to book, the response of all the political parties on this issue must be commended.
Issued by Thabo Masebe
Spokesperson for the Premier, Gauteng
Tel: 082 551