Intercape wants police commissioner, transport minister declared in contempt of court over Eastern Cape bus attacks

Fannie Masemola, the national police commissioner, and Nomthetheleli Mene, the Eastern Cape police commissioner, have been summoned to the Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda to explain why the SAPS has allegedly failed to develop a plan to ensure the safety of Intercape passengers and buses in the province.

The two are among six key players facing a contempt-of-court application to be heard on Thursday, 14 December 2023. Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, Eastern Cape transport MEC Xolile Nqatha, the National Public Transport Regulator and the Eastern Cape Regulatory Entity have also been asked to explain their alleged failure to implement court orders.

The case stems from a September 2022 court judgment issued by Judge John Smith that gave the authorities 20 days to develop a safety plan aimed at preventing violence and intimidation against long-distance coach passengers. 

The court also ruled that Nqatha and the transport minister (Fikile Mbalula at the time) must cooperate with the SAPS to coordinate their efforts to prevent attacks on buses.

At the time of the order, parts of the Eastern Cape were off-limits to Intercape buses due to the company’s refusal to cave into alleged extortion from the taxi industry.

The taxi industry demanded that Intercape and other long-distance bus operators raise their prices, limit the number of buses operating on specific routes, change their timetables so that all buses leave Eastern Cape towns before noon daily, and stop operating entirely in certain towns.

Between January 2021 and February 2022, more than 150 shootings, stonings and other acts of violence and intimidation directed at bus drivers and passengers were reported to the SAPS in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng.

AmaBhungane reported in June 2022 that Intercape CEO Johann Ferreira, in a sworn affidavit to the SAPS, detailed how over the past five years, taxi associations have allegedly tormented Intercape staff, destroyed their property and attempted to extort money directly from him and other bus operators.

According to Ferreira, Intercape has opened more than 175 cases with the SAPS, largely in the Eastern Cape, a number of which have led to serious injuries to employees and passengers of Intercape.

In April 2022, Intercape bus driver Bangikhaya Machana died in hospital days after being shot outside the company’s depot. A few months later, a  driver was shot and critically wounded at the same place. Since the court ruling in September 2022, a further 40 cases have been reported in the Eastern Cape, and a further eight nationally.

Intercape says the authorities have not complied with the court order compelling them to act to reduce the violence and now it wants the SAPS leaders and transport minister held in contempt.

The bus company’s heads of argument and Ferreira’s affidavit will be read into the record on Thursday and then made public. Masemola and Mene have also filed answering affidavits which will also be read into the record on Thursday.

Ferreira says that since the court ruling 15 months ago ordering the transport minister and SAPS officials to prevent acts of violence and intimidation against Intercape, they have instead spent their time focusing on appealing the numerous judgments against them.

In November 2022, Mbalula appealed against the Eastern Cape High Court order compelling him to draft an action plan to stop the attacks on Intercape’s long-distance buses.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Eastern Cape judge loses patience with police and government’s slow response to Intercape bus attacks

In August 2023, the court once again ordered the national transport minister, Eastern Cape transport MEC and SAPS to “develop a revised comprehensive plan on the steps they intend taking to ensure that reasonable and effective measures are put in place to provide for the safety and security of long-distance bus drivers and passengers in the Eastern Cape”.

Judge Smith dismissed an action plan proposed by the authorities as “woefully inadequate to ensure the safety and security of long-distance bus drivers and passengers”.

‘Forced to take action’