Western Cape police have taken legal action to challenge some of the court orders compelling Police Minister Bheki Cele to address bus attacks in the Eastern Cape. Provincial commissioner Tembisile Patekile announced that the South African Police Service (SAPS) is appealing against certain orders issued by the Makhanda High Court last year.
Commissioner Patekile made this statement during a community meeting at NY2 in Gugulethu on Sunday. The move comes after the Intercape bus company reported over 165 cases of attacks and harassment of its buses to the Eastern Cape police between 2020 and 2023. Several drivers were killed in this time.
The lucrative bus routes between the Western and Eastern Cape provinces, driven by the massive population influx over the past few years, have driven persistent competition between law-abiding bus companies and the notoriously violent minibus taxi cartels.
Intercape alleges that its coaches have been shot at and stoned, and that drivers and passengers have been intimidated by taxi operators, describing the attacks as part of a "campaign of organized crime." The areas most affected include Butterworth, Ngcobo, Tsomo, Dutywa, and Cofimvaba.
In the first quarter of 2023, Intercape spent over R1 million on private security to escort buses to the Eastern Cape. During high holidays, buses gather to travel in a convoy with security to protect against further attacks.
Intercape's CEO Johann Ferreira has criticized the police service for failing to ensure public safety and arrest perpetrators.
Intercape sued Minister Cele for failing to investigate and protect its buses, despite the court's order for him to intervene in the attacks. The bus company informs the public that the harassment of its buses on the route persists.
Despite the court's directive for Minister Cele and the provincial department of transport to implement safety measures, the attacks on Intercape buses have not ceased.
Cele pushed back against the persistent allegations of negligence, stating, "Minister is very unlucky, because every other thing whether, he was there or not there, he's the first respondent in all that."
Cele also insisted that Western Cape police, in collaboration with their Eastern Cape counterparts, are actively working to address the concerns raised by the bus company.
