A 52-year-old bus driver was shot while on duty in Kensington, east of Johannesburg, yesterday morning, East Rand police said.

A 52-year-old bus driver was shot while on duty in Kensington, east of Johannesburg, yesterday morning, East Rand police said.

"He was shot at about 5.30am in the abdomen and rushed to hospital," said Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht.

She said it was not clear if the driver was shot by a person in the bus or by someone outside the bus.

Engelbrecht said there were bullet holes in the bus. Police were unable to get any information from the bus driver because he was in surgery.

Metrobus managing director Bheki Shongwe said the bus driver's family are confident that his condition would stabilise.

Shongwe said the driver was on his regular route when he was shot. It was not clear if the shooting was linked to the Metrobus strike that started on January 31.

"At this stage we were not able to establish [a connection]," Shongwe said. - Sapa