No more room for excuses, Intercape says after judgment
The Intercape long distance bus service has welcomed a judgment ordering police minister Bheki Cele, his top brass and the Hawks to act to investigate, arrest and prosecute taxi operators attacking its buses.
“There is no more room for excuses criminals must be brought to book,” the long-haul operator said in response to the judgment.
Earlier this week, acting Makhanda high court judge
Olav Ronaasen declared that the police, Hawks, Cele, his national commissioner Fannie Masemola and the provincial commissioners of the Eastern and Western Cape, Kwazulunatal, Gauteng and North West had failed the bus service, its drivers and its passengers.
He found the police and the Hawks had failed to meet their constitutional obligations to investigate and prevent crimes perpetrated against the bus service, its staff and its passengers.
Despite 165 cases of orchestrated violence and intimidation perpetrated over three years against the company’s assets, staff and passengers including the shooting dead of a bus driver there has been just one arrest and no prosecutions at all.
Intercape said in its statement that the orchestrated attacks were aimed at driving Intercape out of certain parts of SA which would enable taxi operators to monopolise transport routes.
The company recently said in court papers its meetings with taxi associations had led to more threats, more demands for route control, increased attacks and even an attempt to extort R5m from the business.
It said these unlawful demands were not in the interest of the travelling public who faced less choice and higher transport costs.
“Intercape has steadfastly refused to give in to the unlawful demands that have been directed at it and will continue to do so.”
Ronaasen said in his judgment that the crimes against Intercape were committed as a pattern of racketeering and organised crime as defined in the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and should have been investigated as such and not as isolated individual crimes.
Intercape said it was now time to treat the horrific violent crimes as instances of organised crime and national priority offences.
“They must act swiftly and decisively.”
It said the high court, Intercape and the travelling public would be watching.
Ronaasen ordered the police and Hawks to investigate each of the 165 crimes and report to the National Prosecuting Authority within 60 days detailing the steps and progress made.
“The judgment is a victory for every South Africans’ right to rely on the SAPS to keep them safe from crime and, in particular, for our passengers who have the right to travel freely and without fear,” Intercape said.