Police Minister Bheki Cele will be chairing an interministerial committee to come up with ways to protect long-distance buses from what bus company Intercape says is extortion and intimidation by rogue taxi associations, primarily in the Eastern Cape. 

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s spokesperson, Lwaphesheya Khoza, said Mbalula would sit on the committee that will address the safety concerns of long-distance buses – specifically Intercape buses – that travel to and from the Eastern Cape.

Intercape has obtained a court order against Mbalula and the Eastern Cape MEC for Transport, Xolile Nqatha, to force them to deal with the issue. 

Khoza said it’s difficult to indicate when the ministers would be able to produce a plan of action: “Minister Mbalula is concerned about the safety of Intercape passengers. He has noted the court order and is working on the problem.” 

Earlier this year, Intercape turned to the Eastern Cape High Court to force the government to address the deteriorating security situation affecting long-distance buses. Bus drivers faced regular incidents of extortion and intimidation. They were also threatened and instructed to increase their ticket prices to match those of long-distance taxis – taxi associations also told large retailers to stop selling bus tickets.

The company successfully obtained an interdict, but Mbalula filed a notice to appeal, which had the effect of suspending the order. This week, Intercape successfully obtained another court order that enforced the successful interdict despite the government’s attempts to appeal it. 

In papers filed with the high court in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Intercape CEO Johann Ferreira points to Mbalula’s “ongoing disregard for the seriousness of the issues at hand, which concern life-threatening and endemic acts of violence and intimidation”.

More than 150 recorded violent incidents have occurred, including shootings, stonings and acts of intimidation directed at Intercape and other long-distance operators by rogue taxi associations intent on stopping companies from operating on certain routes across South Africa.

Most of these attacks happened in the Eastern Cape.

In its first ruling, handed down in September, the court gave the government 20 days to formulate a workable action plan.

Nqatha filed his plan on 28 October, but Mbalula gave notice that he wanted to appeal the ruling. 

Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula. (Photo: Gallo Images / Beeld / Deaan Vivier)

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Ferreira said the MEC’s plan “suffers from a general lack of detail in relation to the intervention measures it sets out. Second, it does not specify concrete timelines for the implementation of each aspect of the plan, as required by the court order.”

According to Intercape, the plan also failed to address the reopening of the so-called no-go zones where local taxi associations have banned Intercape from operating. These include the busy Eastern Cape transport hubs of Tshomo, Idutywa, Butterworth, Engcobo and Cofimvaba.

“The action plan identifies certain ‘hotspots’ where the violence against bus drivers and passengers is most severe. The hotspots have been identified as consisting of only five routes on which Intercape’s buses travel. 

“The list does not include any of the towns or areas which Intercape described in its application papers as being so hostile and volatile as to render them ‘no-go zones’, which it is unable to operate in,” Ferreira said in his statement before the court.

While there had been a delay as the ministers asked the court for an extension, Ferreira said Intercape still had some fight left.

“The plan cannot be a continuation of business as usual … That time has come and gone long ago. If the minister and MEC fail to devise a proper plan, we will approach the high court again. We will keep going until they get this right,” said Ferreira in a statement on 20 December. 

“Intercape’s interest is in ensuring that it can render its services to the South African public in a safe and dignified way.” 

The spokesperson for Nqatha, Makhaya Komisa, said the MEC could not provide comment on the matter as it was currently “sub judice”, but that they would comment when appropriate. 

The Western Cape government condemned the ongoing attacks after a bus driver was shot and injured on Jakes Gerwel Drive on 4 December.

“Since the reported spike in attacks on Intercape buses, the Western Cape government has taken steps to ensure that the matter is brought to the attention of relevant authorities in the security and enforcement environment for the urgent coordination of investigations and interventions,” Premier Alan Winde said in a media statement released on 5 December. 

Western Cape Minister of Mobility Daylin Mitchell said in the same statement that they have been implementing their own plans: “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 have reiterated my instruction to Provincial Traffic to monitor long-distance bus operations and, with the support of the SA Police Service, 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,” said Mitchell. 

“Tens of thousands of citizens will be taking to the roads in the coming days. They deserve safe transport,” said Winde. DM/MC