OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development
Open-access peer-reviewed journal
Examining incidents of taxi violence at the Durban station taxi rank in eThekwini Central Policing Cluster (South Africa)
Nothile A. Nzuza 1, Dee Khosa 2, Adewale, A. Olutola3
1,2,3 Department of Safety & Security Management, Faculty of Humanities, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa.
Volume 16, Issue 06, Pg. 11-20, 2023.
Abstract: This paper explores taxi violence occurrences at the Durban station taxi rank (South Africa). Police officials have various challenges to curb taxi violence. The Department of Transport (DOT) continues to engage police officials and taxi operators in the fight against taxi violence. This study utilised qualitative research method to gain an understanding and viewpoints of the participants regarding taxi violence. A focus group strategy was utilised to collect data from the research participants. Fifteen research participants were interviewed. The research participants comprised of 5 SAPS (South African Police Service) officials, 5 DoT employees and 5 taxi operators. Ethical principles were adhered to throughout the study.
Participants indicated that taxi violence contributes to a high number of murders, as the wellbeing of the taxi operators and innocent passengers continue to be at stake. These taxi violence-related murders contribute to instability in the taxi industry in the areas of the eThekwini Central cluster.
The root causes which triggers taxi violence mainly emanate from many factors such as, “collection of rank fees”; App-based taxi services such as “Uber”, “Taxify”, and “YoTaxi”!; “The GO Durban” “bus project”, also known as “Corridor 3”; “Emerging and new security companies at taxi ranks”; “Greed”; “Hitman services”; “Route encroachment”; “Politics”; “Building of new malls”; “Revenge-related attacks or killings”; “Taxi fare increases”; “Employer and employee relationships between the taxi owners and taxi drivers”; “Taxi fleet inheritance”; “Omalume” (the drivers who transport school learners); “Impoundment of unroadworthy taxis”; “Favouritism regarding lucrative routes”; “Ill-treatment of the taxi conductors by the taxi drivers”; “Infrastructure improvement” (such as roads and bridges); and “The TRP”.
The study recommends the following to reduce taxi violence at the Durban station taxi rank in eThekwini Central Policing Cluster (South Africa). Firstly, an SOP must be formulated and implemented. This SOP must bind taxi operators, the DoT, the municipality, Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA), and the police. Once there is a binding document that states that taxi ranks must be gun-free zones, anyone who carries a gun at a taxi rank must be charged and prosecuted.
Secondly, the absence of a unit that specialises in the investigation of taxi violence is a cause for concern. The South African Police Service (SAPS) management needs to review the decision(s) that led to the disbandment of the former Taxi Violence Unit. A specific crime code that will stipulate on the systems that the incident is related to taxi violence needs to be formulated. Similarly, establishment of properly paid informers. Police officials must recruit informers who will supply proactive information regarding taxi violence. These informers must infiltrate taxi violence perpetrators, as an outsider will not be able to obtain proactive information about the perpetrators’ activities. Important also is the identification and profile of hitmen. The hitmen need to be identified. Comprehensive profiling of the hitmen must be conducted, and their movements and activities must be closely monitored.
Thirdly, promotion policy review is crucial. The SAPS management needs to review the promotion policy that is used to promote SAPS officials. This will boost the morale of the policing personnel. Fourthly, establishment of a finance committee is equally important. The taxi operators should have a finance committee that must have at least three signatories. The committee members will ensure that all the money collected at the taxi rank is accounted for The taxi associations must hold meetings with the commuters when there is a need to increase taxi fares. These meetings should involve the affected police stations and clusters.
Finally, there is a need to establish a centralised app-based services office. The taxi associations should engage members of the public who are operating or who wish to operate app-based services. Such office will ensure the preservation of a database of all app-based services.
Keywords: commuters’ crime, Durban station taxi rank, eThekwini Central policing cluster, policing reactive approach, taxi violence
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The inadequacies of the South African Criminal Justice System against male victims of domestic abuse
Sabelinah, M. Tshoane 1, Paul, O. Bello 2, Jacob T. Mofokeng 3, Adewale A. Olutola 4
Department of Safety & Security Management, Faculty of Humanities,
Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa.
Volume 16, Issue 06, Pg. 21-34, 2023.
Abstract: Although human / women’s rights activists have recorded tremendous successes in attracting attention to the problem of domestic violence against women, but they have largely been silent on the associated problem of domestic violence against men. According to the National Coalition against Domestic Violence (NCADV) in Colorado, one out of every nine men has experienced intimate partner violence. While the Moshate organization in South Africa receives between 25 and 30 abuse complaints from men monthly. Although, it is not out of place to assume that this statistic does not fully represent the true figure owing to men’s tendency of underreporting domestic violence due to discrimination and the associated embarrassment. This is further compounded by the entrenched societal notion that men cannot be abused or victimised by women. Underreporting coupled with a history of domestic violence, in which female perpetrators are only perceived as victims, and not likely a perpetrator, particularly by the South African criminal justice system, is believed to create a dilemma. The objective of this paper is to interrogate whether the South African criminal justice system recognizes and/or acknowledges that men can be victims of domestic violence. It further examines whether male victims of domestic violence receive the same services as female victims. It also compares the resources accessible to male victims of domestic violence to the resources provided to female victims of domestic violence.
This paper utilized a qualitative research method to gain a robust understanding of the South African criminal justice system’s inadequacies towards male victims of domestic violence. Face-to-face interviews were done with fifteen participants, five SAPS personnel, five members of the matrix’s men organization, and five members of the Moshate men organization from Gauteng province (South Africa). The findings indicate that men are affected by domestic violence as well, even though the criminal justice system is primarily concerned with the effects when men react. Furthermore, as expected, men were not taken seriously by the criminal justice system in comparison to female victims of domestic violence. The criminal justice system is willing to provide information on restraining orders and shelters to female victims of domestic violence, but not so willing to provide the same information to male victims facing the same abuse. The judicial system is another hurdle that men confront when attempting to get protective orders.
As a result, it is recommended from the findings of this study that the criminal justice system should encourage and protect the rights of victims of domestic violence on an equal basis. Male victims of domestic abuse are reminded that constant non- reporting of these incidents prohibits them from receiving vital support. In conclusion, while some of the silences around the issue of violence against women are being broken, it is rather sad that effective measures of justice are still not understood or utilized in ways that can help or favour male victims. As a result, the risk that male victims will stay invisible and excluded from solutions to domestic abuse is still quite high and will remain so unless more efforts are done to ensure that their rights and concerns receive the same special attention as those of the feminine gender.
Keywords: Criminal justice system, Domestic violence, South African Police service, Law enforcement, , Male victims.
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Enhancing Sustainable Educational Development with the Development of a Prototype “Musication” System Using Music to Assist Students in Learning Computing and Programming Concepts
Mpho Lengoasa 1 and Johnson Dehinbo 2
1,2 Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Information & Communications Technology,
Tshwane University of Technology, Soshanguve, Tshwane, 0152, South Africa.
Volume 16, Issue 07, Pg. 35-52, 2023.
Abstract: It is important for any society to continually strive towards sustainable development by making regular progress in their endeavours. Development in any society can always be traced back to improved education. When people are well educated, they can contribute positively to the society. Therefore, many countries take educational development very seriously. Sustainable educational development thus implies that the educational development we seek should be sustainable. Sustainable educational development requires that we achieve such educational development in a conducive way such that we use all possible tools at our disposal today to achieve such educational development so as to make it easy for future generations to maintain and improve upon. One of the possible tools at our disposal today involves using Information Technology and Information Systems and Music to enhance development. Music is universal and a very effective tool that should play a larger role in the classroom due to its great appeal to students. Music should thus increase students’ interest in learning programming in a very entertaining way. Educators need to be willing to incorporate music in their lessons in order to better enhance their students’ learning. Music in every classroom could inspire more students to become creative and independent, allowing educators and their students to understand each other and connect in a new way to make learning more enjoyable and less difficult even for complex subjects. Learning programming is a complex task and is one of the subjects that students find challenging. This article highlights the use of music and development of a system to help students to grasp and understand computing and programming concepts effectively. A prototype system is developed with music-based theory where important concepts are explained in form of music lyrics with suitable beats that is repeatable and can easily be remembered, fulfilling the saying that “repetition is the power of learning”. The usability testing of the developed system “Learning through music” is done to indeed see the usability and effectiveness of the system.
Keywords: Music, online systems, understanding, teaching and learning, programming, computing concepts, Sustainable Educational Development.
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