Durban – Portfolio committee on tourism has urged police to act on criminal elements targeting long distance buses.
This comes following a spike in incidents including extortion, attempted murder, stoning, assault and intimidation involving Intercape, Translux and Greyhound buses travelling in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces.
Committee chairperson, Tandi Mahambehlala, said she has received a briefing from SAPS on the attacks.
“These attacks pose a danger to bus drivers and their passengers, but they also tarnish South Africa’s image as a tourism destination and create the impression that tourist visitors are unsafe here. Interventions implemented by SAPS will reassure tourists that they are safe when travelling around the country,” she said.
Mahambehlala said Intercape has 69 cases pending and was concerned at the lack of arrests in Intercape’s cases in the Eastern Cape.
“We have urged SAPS and National Joint Operations and Intelligence Structure to ensure that when buses cross into other provinces they are protected. The committee questioned the effectiveness of SAPS’ surveillance work, as there has been an increase in incidents without arrests,” Mahambehlala said.
She said attacks on interprovincial bus operators are intensifying, with the fatal shooting of bus drivers and injuries to passengers.
Between January 2021 and February, there were over 150 shootings, stonings and other acts of violence and intimidation, including 21 shooting incidents this year. These cases were reported to police in three provinces.
Intercape alleges that there are leaks in the SAPS, as on June 4, June 5 and June 26, attacks on buses occurred when a SAPS escort was not available.
The operations of Intercape in Cofimvaba, Dutywa, Butterworth, Ngcobo and Tsomo have since been suspended and it only operates out of Mthatha on the inter-province route.
DA Shadow Minister of Tourism, Manny de Freitas, said SAPS is incapable of resolving criminality on tourism buses.
Following a meeting with the portfolio committee last month, de Freitas said slammed police’s presentation as “smoke and mirrors”.
“The presentation attempted to show that the SAPS was effectively dealing with this matter when it clearly is not. It indicated that all actions by the SAPS were reactive in nature with no proactive actions. What the presentation called proactive, was in fact reactive,” he said.
IOL