It was the Minibus Taxi-Type Service Industry, itself, which appealed to the Gauteng Government to establish a Commission that focuses primarily on the underlying reasons for the recurring violence, conflict, fatalities and instability within the Minibus Taxi-Type Service Industry.

The Gauteng Provincial Government heeded the call and a decision to appoint a retired Judge to investigate the root causes of taxi violence in the Gauteng Province led to the establishment of this Commission. Proclamation 101 of 2019 published on 13 September 2019 gave effect to the Commission of Inquiry into Taxi Violence.

Justice Jeremiah Buti Shongwe was appointed as Chairperson together with Mr Rudolph Lungile Mabece and Mr Hlula Msimang as members of the Commission with Ms Dimakatso Mamiki Selesho as the Secretary. The Commission is the culmination of a long consultative process between the Government and the Minibus Taxi-Type Service Industry in Gauteng.

Historically, there have been various Commissions with a similar mandate of investigating causes of violence and bringing stability to the Minibus Taxi-Type Service Industry. The mandate of the Welgemoed Commission was limited to buses and not Minibus-Taxi’s which resulted in Minibus-Taxi Operators having to fend for themselves without any support from the Government at the time. The report states that it was unjustifiable to have a mass-based transport system in historically white urban and developed areas.

Commission of Inquiry into Taxi Violence