Intercape has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene following a series of attacks on its buses and drivers recently.
The long-distance bus service said one of the latest incidents involved one of its members succumbing to injuries after being shot outside their depot in Cape Town. The 35-year-old bus driver from Crossroads died on Thursday after being shot and critically wounded outside the Intercape depot in the city.
In a statement released, the company said in the space of just 13 months, there have been more than 150 recorded violent incidents, which have led to serious injuries to not only staff but also passengers of the bus operators in the long-distance coach industry.
“It came after Intercape, one of the industry’s largest and longest-standing companies, appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government to urgently intervene to stop the violence directed at the long-distance coach industry,” they said.
They said they could no longer keep quiet about the extortion and violence directed at Intercape and the long-distance coach industry and they made a public appeal to President Ramaphosa and the government but this has since resulted in an escalation of attacks against Intercape coaches.
CEO, Johann Ferreira, said these violent attacks on its buses and the long-distance coach industry were waged by rogue taxi associations that wanted the long-distance bus service out of business in some regions and certain routes across the country.
He said the attacks were mainly centred around certain towns and routes in the Eastern Cape but they have also seen attacks in the Cape Metropole and Gauteng.
“These gunmen and the murderers of our employee in Cape Town are out there walking freely and brazenly and think nothing of shooting at innocent people. 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,” he said.
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Picture: Intercape (Facebook)