THE Eastern Cape High Court has ordered Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula and provincial Transport MEC Xolile Nqatha to take “positive” steps to put an end to the attacks on Intercape buses.
This comes after Intercape bus services dragged Mbalula and the Eastern Cape MEC for Transport to court after their alleged failure to stop violent and attacks against the company.
High Court Judge John Smith ruled that the minister and the MEC have a “obligation” to come up with a plan, including appointing inspectors, declaring certain no-go areas as warranting “extraordinary measures” and the suspension of taxi licences, routes and ranks.
The judge also said that the officials have failed up to now to ensure the safety and security of long-distance bus drivers and passengers in the province, even though they have an obligation to do so.
Intercape CEO Johann Ferreira said the company has reported almost 200 cases of murder, attempted murder and intimidation.
“There musts be arrests, there are 150 cases in the Eastern Cape and 10 or 12 in the Western Cape for murder, attempted murder, intimidation, and shootings,” said Ferreira.
“This entire time, there has only been one arrest made and the suspect went out on bail and there were no further arrests.”
“The taxi industry wants us to surrender the company and let them dictate how many coaches we can run and what prices should we charge. We can’t do that, that is just another capture. We have learned about state capture, and this is just another capture of a business.”
In the meantime, the DA in the Western Cape has welcomed the judgment in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court that Mbalula take steps to deal with the ongoing attacks on long-distance bus service, Intercape.
“The Western Cape Provincial Parliament’s Standing Committee on Transport has for months called on the ANC national government to step in and produce measures to prevent the violence that some elements in the mini-bus taxi industry continue to commit against long-distance bus services like the Intercape,” said Ricardo Mackenzie, DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Transport.
“Following the shootings that targeted Intercape buses and drivers in the province, an urgent meeting was held in August comprising of the CEO of the Intercape Bus Company, and the Western Cape Provincial Ministers of Transport and Police Oversight and Community Safety, respectively.”
The DA called on Mbalula to engage all the relevant provinces affected by the violence in the long-distance transport sector as well as law enforcement to coordinate an effective response to the violence and criminality plaguing the industry.
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