Causes
Prior to 1987, the taxi industry was highly regulated and controlled, with Black taxi operators declined permits. 16-seater minibuses were illegal to operate as taxis. Post 1987, the industry was rapidly deregulated, leading to an influx of new minibus taxi operators, keen to make money from the high demand for this service. Because the industry was largely unregulated and the official regulating bodies so corrupt, the industry quickly became criminal in nature.
The economic drivers for the wars were intertwined with political unrest around the time of the fall of apartheid in 1994. Commuters were often the target of political violence not necessarily related to the taxi industry itself. Often, the warring factions involved were from opposing political parties such as the IFP and ANC. In the years leading up to the abolition of apartheid, the government is believed to have actively encouraged this violence so as to destabilise its political opposition. For example, in 1998, 13 police officers were charged with complicity in taxi violence.
Read more about this topic: Taxi Wars In South Africa