Top brass in Bay to address attacks on lntercape buses
Two cabinet ministers have urged the police to step up efforts to curb attacks on lntercape buses.
Police minister Bheki Cele and deputy transport minister Lisa Mangcu made the call during a visit to Gqeberha this week.
Their visit comes after the long-distance coach operator filed an application with the Makhanda high court to sue Cele for the attacks.
Cele’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, confirmed Tuesday’s visit.
“It was a private meeting; they discussed the attacks on Intercape.
“If we wanted the media there we would have invited them, but this was a closed meeting,” she said.
Intercape chief executive Johann Ferreira cited in court papers that the attacks had continued over a long period of time, and had occurred as recently as last month.
Last year, the Makhanda court ordered Eastern Cape transport MEC Xolile Nqatha and erstwhile national transport minister Fikile Mbalula to come up with a plan to ensure the safety of passengers and bus drivers.
Last month, Intercape lodged a fresh court bid, suing Cele, national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola and a host of other government officials after Ferreira said Nqatha and Mbalula had not developed an action plan which complied with the requirements of the court order.
Provincial police commissioners of the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were also cited as respondents.
Intercape is asking for an urgent order declaring that the SA Police Service and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation unit had failed to properly investigate and prevent crimes reportedly perpetrated against Intercape.
During their visit to Gqeberha, Cele and Mangcu said the bus attacks had been concentrated in the Western and Eastern Cape.
“I welcome the outcome of the meeting held in Gqeberha between [Cele] and myself with the SAPS provincial leadership of the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal,” Mangcu said.
“I welcome the decrease in the number of incidents,” Mangcu said, however pointing out that the Eastern Cape had recorded the most incidents between 2021 and the beginning of 2023.
“I, however, condemn all acts of violence against any public transport system.”
The deputy minister further said though fewer incidents had since been recorded, more could be done in investigating reported cases in an attempt to apprehend the perpetrators.
“We will continue to monitor the affected areas ... they need to do more,” Mangcu said, adding that “the police must intensify their efforts and all the cases must be investigated so that the matter can be nipped in the bud”.
In one of the latest incidents, an Intercape coach en route from Gqeberha to Pretoria came under fire on March 8 along the Penhoek Pass on the N6 towards Bloemfontein.
A passenger was shot and taken to hospital for treatment.
Also last month, Intercape staff and security were repeatedly threatened, allegedly by taxi operators in Dutywa.
The bus company at the time said the N2 highway near Dutywa was blocked off for several hours by local taxi associations in protest against Intercape operating in and around surrounding towns.
In January, an Intercape bus with 31 people on board caught fire near Nanaga, while travelling from Gqeberha towards Pretoria.
Over the past three years, Intercape reported 165 criminal cases, with only one person arrested.
The arrest was linked to the April last year murder of Intercape driver Bangikhaya Machana, but the charges have since been withdrawn.
Ferreira said security costs were exorbitant, which had led to Intercape withdrawing private security in mid-February, leaving local police as the only on-the-ground form of protection and deterrent against alleged intimidation by local taxi associations.
In a hard-hitting 112-page affidavit filed in the latest Makhanda high court case, Intercape slammed authorities for their “continued failure” to stop the “calculated campaign of criminality”.
“For several years, Intercape’s buses, bus drivers and passengers have been subjected to widespread, ongoing and well-documented acts of intimidation and violence at the hands of the taxi industry,” the affidavit read.