Cape Town - Long-distance bus company Intercape has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa pleading for him to intervene and champion the company’s drivers and employees, who are falling victim to a bitter feud with taxi drivers.
The plea comes after the death of one of Intercape’s drivers, who was shot outside the company’s Cape Town depot in what Intercape believes to be a campaign of violence and extortion against the long-distance coach industry by rogue elements within the minibus taxi industry.
The driver, a 35-year-old man from Lower Crossroads, succumbed to his injuries after days in hospital.
Intercape CEO Johann Ferreira said: “We have been pleading with authorities to act urgently before innocent people are killed. Now it is too late, and we at Intercape have been left utterly devastated to learn of the passing of our colleague.
“The long-distance train system in South Africa has been systematically burnt, and infrastructure destroyed and stolen by thugs and thieves and certain criminal elements within the taxi industry.
“The taxi industry is now busy neutralising the long-distance bus operators, specifically in the Eastern Cape, and thus forcing passengers into the minibus taxis.
“We have been engaging with police locally, and there have also been talks with representatives of the taxi industry itself, but the attacks continue unabated, and have intensified.
“We have now commenced engagements with the SAPS at the National Joint Operational Intelligence Structure (Natjoints) level, and hope that this will bring about change,” Ferreira said.
In its letter, Intercape has called for Ramaphosa to urgently address the attacks on the long-distance bus industry. It wants the police minister to provide escorts for its coaches on all Eastern Cape routes until there is a guarantee that the environment is such that coaches can operate safely again, and for the transport minister to urgently address local taxi associations to end the violence.
“More than 100 cases have been opened with the SAPS, but the attacks have continued unabated at key pick-up points on routes, on the road and outside Intercape headquarters in Cape Town. The situation is completely intolerable, and we are pleading for urgent intervention,” Ferreira said.
An Intercape coach driver who did not want to be named said: “Every time we travel along those routes, we are taking our lives in our hands. You see the attackers standing by the side of the road, and the next minute you hear the gunshots ring out and the glass shattering. It is the most terrifying thing you can imagine, to try and keep the bus under control as the passengers behind you scream with fear.”
Long-distance taxi association Codeta, however, disputes claims that the taxi industry is behind the attacks on the bus industry.
Codeta spokesperson Andile Khanyi said: “Statements made by Intercape are untrue and unfair. We have been engaging among ourselves to create an environment where one industry is not suppressed by the other over changing prices or any such thing.”
Newly-appointed Santaco provincial chairperson Mandla Hermanus could not be reached for comment.