Cape Town – Long-distance coach company Intercape has called on newly appointed Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga and the police to urgently intervene following renewed attacks on its buses.
This as the company again approached the High Court in Makhanda with an urgent application to compel police and national and provincial transport authorities to comply with earlier court orders to provide for the safety and security of Intercape’s drivers and passengers.
“Five months have since passed. Still the MEC and the minister have not developed an action plan which complies with the requirements of the court order,” the company’s 44-page affidavit read.
On Wednesday, an Intercape coach en route from Gqeberha to Pretoria was shot at in the Penhoek Pass on the N6 between Komani (Queenstown) and Aliwal North and a passenger was wounded.
Intercape said staff and security were also threatened repeatedly, allegedly by taxi operators, in Idutywa in the Eastern Cape.
Intercape has accused police and transport authorities of being “missing in action” and says this has emboldened taxi associations and operators who are alleged to be targeting its operations and passengers.
Intercape CEO Johann Ferreira asked for support from business, political sectors and civil society in South Africa.
“I am openly pleading with all South Africans to stand up and call on government to put a stop to this anarchy. How can we allow criminals to shoot a coach carrying innocent people?
“This lawlessness is not only about Intercape. It affects multiple sectors as well as members of the public caught in the crossfire.
“At this rate our country will be overrun by thuggery. We should never be in a position where this type of violent criminality becomes normalised, and the state does precisely nothing,” he said.
The company added that it had deployed its own private security officers in hot spot towns in the Eastern Cape but that the moment Intercape withdrew its private security officers the intimidation recommenced.
Ferreira said that when Intercape resumed operations in the five no-go towns of Cofimvaba, Butterworth, Engcobo, Tsomo and Idutywa in January, the company was welcomed back with open arms by the commuting public.
“On social media people were celebrating our return to service as an affordable and safe means of travel.”
Cape Times