SOWETAN SAYS | Govt must ensure no repeat of bus attacks

The recent violent attacks on bus companies, including the shooting to death of two Rea Vaya bus drivers in Soweto, ought to be seen as an existential threat to our public transport system.

Both Rea Vaya and Putco, which were targeted, are subsidised by taxpayers to provide safe, reliable, affordable and efficient public transport to the working class.

A week ago, 51 Putco buses were torched at four depots in Mpumalanga. Two people have since been arrested following the arson attack. On Monday, Two Rea Vaya drivers were ambushed and killed by gunmen in separate incidents in Soweto in what Joburg transport MMC Kenny Kunene has described as “a declaration of war against residents and the government”.

Although Putco is privately owned, it is subsidised by the government. Rea Vaya is an initiative of the City of Johannesburg set up to improve the quality of life of its residents. Rea Vaya buses provide critical transport services to mostly residents of Soweto connecting them to economic opportunities in the city.

Reliable, safer and affordable public transport ought to be the backbone of driving our economy forward, especially in cities like Johannesburg, where congestion has become a defining feature of people’s movement.

The taxi industry is beset by poor safety standards, violence and inefficiencies. Repeated attempts by the government to formalise the taxi industry on a large scale to meet the needs of a growing population in congested cities have failed so far. Therefore, buses and trains remain the only hope of improving our public transport system to serve the growing needs of the working-class population.

But if people don’t feel safe and operators of these modes of transport feel threatened by criminals, the system will be doomed. The recent violent incidents will not only leave drivers of the buses fearing for their lives, but so will the passengers. Authorities must, therefore, commit to making sure those behind these attacks are brought to book, and not let impunity win, to ensure these never take place again.

The violent attacks on buses have also brought into sharp focus a lack of police intelligence in our country. The fact that the buses were set alight in several depots in Mpumalanga shows this was a planned criminal act which intelligence ought to have picked up. 

Equally, the fatal shootings in Soweto happened one after the other in different places. These incidents highlight the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to ensure safety of our public transport system.