Note to editors: Please find attached Afrikaans and English soundbite by Chris Hunsinger MP.
The DA acknowledges and supports long distance bus operator Intercape’s decision to sue the Minister of Police for failing to put in place a safety plan to prevent violent bus attacks. The ANC-led government’s apparent lack of concern about crime and its direct impact on the transportation business is confirmed by the ongoing attacks on long-distance bus operators.
The DA will formally put this pertinent issue on the agenda for urgent discussion at the next Portfolio Committee meeting.
Due to attacks on their buses and drivers in the Eastern Cape, Intercape has lost millions of rands and left many of their customers stranded. According to current news, there have been 14 attacks on buses in recent weeks.
The police and transportation minister have yet to put into place a safety plan to stop attacks on buses despite numerous requests and legal actions.
Bheki Cele, the minister of police, and Fikile Mbalula, the former minister of transport, have abandoned the long-haul operators as well as the hard-working people who depend on these services to get from point A to point B. This is despite the court directing MEC for transport in the Eastern Cape Xolile Nqatha, Mbalula, and the Eastern Cape Transport and Community Safety MEC 20 days to develop a strategy to stop the attacks.
It is absurd that a business—or a citizen, for that matter—must go to such drastic measures in order to secure the protection and intervention of the minister of police. Organised crime is allowed to flourish in the absence of police action given the police’s ineptitude and refusal to safeguard long-distance bus companies, which poses a serious risk to investor confidence.
Since thousands of South Africans depend on long-distance travel, we demand that the incoming Minister of Transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga, and the Minister of Police immediately put the safety plan into action.