Mourners barred from funeral

THE final goodbyes for Intercape bus driver Bangikhaya Machana, who was shot and killed, were tainted by seemingly another attack on the long distance coach company on Friday.

A bus of mourners was stopped, allegedly by taxi operators who refused to let them proceed to his hometown for the burial service.

Machana, 35, was shot outside the Intercape depot in Cape Town on April 25. He died in Tygerberg Hospital three days later and leaves behind his widow and two daughters aged 3 and 6.

Major taxi associations have remained mum on the alleged attacks while Intercape alleges they have suffered various attacks over the past 13 months.

They say there have been more than 150 violent incidents, a number of which have led to serious injuries to employees and passengers of bus operators.

Intercape chief executive John Ferreira said one of its coaches had carried more than 50 members of the extended Machana family and friends from Cape Town to his hometown of Dutywa in the Eastern Cape for the funeral which took place on Saturday.

According to information, their coach was stopped by suspected rogue taxi operators on Friday who refused to let the bus proceed.

Ferreira said when the coach entered Dutywa, it was chased away by the taxi operators, forcing the bus driver to go to a local police station.

“The taxis followed them and one of our drivers went inside the police station to get help. The police did not want to come out to help. The coach had no choice at that point but to leave and go to Mthatha, more than 80 kilometres away, because of fears for the safety and well-being of family members.

“The coach with mourners eventually returned to Dutywa on Friday afternoon under police escort after Intercape appealed to senior provincial police to intervene.

“These taxi operators have absolutely no shame, stopping and preventing a grieving family from visiting their hometown to lay to rest a son, husband and father who was so cruelly taken from them.

“This amounts to a mafia state and the authority of the state has been completely undermined and given over to criminal enterprises. When innocent and grief-stricken people are not even allowed to attend the planned burial of their murdered loved one in peace, then we have reached a new low as a country,” said Ferreira.

Enquiries to the Transport Ministry, SAPS, and taxi organisations Santaco and the National Taxi Association had not been answered by deadline.