A long-distance coach company has called for urgent intervention to stop violence directed at the industry after more than 150 violent incidents were recorded in just 13 months.
Well-known long-distance coach company Intercape has appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government to urgently intervene to stop the violence directed at the industry, allegedly by rogue taxi associations.
“In the space of just 13 months, there have been more than 150 recorded violent incidents, a number of which have led to serious injuries to employees and passengers of the bus operators in the Long-Distance Coach industry,” the company said.
Intercape said the attacks were mainly centred around key towns and routes in the Eastern Cape but has also seen attacks in the Cape Metropole and Gauteng.
The call came after three more Intercape buses came under attack, all in Gauteng, on April 28 and 29, which left two people injured.
On Thursday night at 7.19pm, an Intercape bus en route from Pretoria to Mthatha was shot at from an unknown sedan vehicle on the M2 highway in Johannesburg.
According to the company, three shots were fired into the driver’s side of the coach, with the final shot narrowly missing the driver. The passengers were transferred to another coach to continue their journey and a case was registered at the Jeppe police station.
On Friday night at 7.40, another bus en route to Mthatha came under attack as it was approaching the Geldenhuys Interchange from the M2 to join the N3 Highway. Intercape said video footage from the bus showed a gunman stationed on the bridge who fired two shots at the coach, with one of the rounds striking a passenger in the leg.
“The driver, despite suffering facial injuries from the shattered glass fragments, drove straight to Germiston, where he was met by a police vehicle that escorted the coach to Germiston police station,” the company said.
On the same night at 7.45 pm, around 7km from Johannesburg station on the M2 highway, the occupants of an unidentified car driving in the fast lane opened fire on a coach travelling from Durban to Pretoria.
“The bullet was fired through the right side driver’s door and exited the left side window, injuring the driver, who was struck by flying glass. An ER24 ambulance was contacted to meet the coach at Johannesburg station, where the driver was treated,” the company said.
“We could no longer keep quiet about the extortion and violence directed at Intercape and the long-distance coach industry in this country and we made a public appeal to President Ramaphosa and the government. This has since resulted in an escalation of attacks against Intercape coaches over these last two days,” said Intercape CEO Johann Ferreira.
Ferreira said that despite more than 150 reported incidents in the last year and over 60 cases opened with various police stations, the majority in the Eastern Cape, there had not been a single arrest to date.
“How are we expected to operate as a licensed business when there are criminal elements who openly target us? This is anarchy, plain and simple, and unless this is stopped and dealt with decisively our country is on a path to self-destruction,” the chief executive said.
The company said it had written directly to Ramaphosa and the government, pleading for intervention to stop the campaign, which is aimed at forcing it and other long-distance coach companies out of operating in certain regions and routes.
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