Media Release by Daylin Mitchell Western Cape Minister of Mobility
This morning I had an urgent meeting with the CEO of Intercape Bus Company together with the Provincial Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen, following yet another shooting at an Intercape bus yesterday.
The driver was shot at the company’s Airport Industria depot on Sunday afternoon. He is in a critical but stable condition in hospital.
The continued brazen attacks on long distance buses constitute organised crime, perpetrated by a criminal element, reportedly with links to the minibus taxi industry.
When I first heard about the reported spike in attacks on buses on routes between the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, I have taken steps to ensure that the matter has been brought to the attention of relevant authorities in the security and enforcement environment for the urgent coordination of investigations and interventions.
After our meeting with various role-players in May, Premier Alan Winde wrote to President Ramaphosa to request an urgent meeting and coordinated intervention at national level to combat extortion and racketeering in the public transport sector.
President Ramaphosa referred the matter to the security cluster Ministers but we still await action on the part of the Minister of Police, who was tasked with convening this crucial and urgent engagement.
I have instructed our officials to check and verify all long distance bus operating licences and to impound all vehicles that are operating without- or contrary to the conditions of operating licences. I also intend raising the matter with the national Minister of Transport and my provincial counterparts in a MinMEC meeting to address the perception among bus operators that politicians and enforcement officials are failing in their duty by allowing a group of criminal extortionists to hold both the bus and minibus taxi industries hostage to their demands for price fixing by flooding routes with illegal operators while preventing legal operators from operating in certain areas.
I have reiterated my instruction to Provincial Traffic to monitor long distance bus operations and, with the support of the SAPS, be on the lookout for any ‘patrol vehicles’ that illegally stop and extort buses and other private vehicles along key routes between the Western Cape and neighbouring provinces.
The Western Cape Government will not condone criminal acts of extortion, will not negotiate with - nor try to appease criminals, and will not allow the rule of law to be compromised.
Our first priority will always be to ensure the safety of commuters - and we will support every effort to root out the small criminal element that seeks to hijack the public transport industry for their own criminal agenda.
Media Queries:
Ntomboxolo Makoba-Somdaka
Spokesperson for Minister Daylin Mitchell
Cell: 082 953 0026
Email: Ntomboxolo.Makoba-Somdaka@westerncape.gov.za