Four Cape Town commuters recovering in hospital after buses torched
At least four commuters are recovering in hospital after three buses were torched in parts of Cape Town on Thursday.
Buses in Nyanga and Kraaifontein were set alight, another was hijacked and then later retrieved in Delft.
The violence took place while striking taxi operators marched from Nyanga to the CBD but the two associations have refuted claims that they are to blame.
The morning saw scenes of chaos as motorists and commuters made their way into Cape Town CBD.
At the same time, thousands of people were stuck in heavy traffic as drivers and owners occupied a lane on the N2 marching to the Western Cape Legislature.
MMC for Safety JP Smith said the municipality could potentially lay criminal charges against the conveners of the strike and also launch a civil claim for damages to infrastructure and private property.
“Their names are known to us, and we have to look at the damages to public transport and prove that it relates to these organisers and hold them accountable in terms of civil action.”
Golden Arrow’s Bronwin Dyke Beyers said services were running as normal on Thursday evening, with a few diversions where necessary.
“We are running in full services, but we ask commuters to exercise a little bit of patience and we will make sure that everyone gets home, and we will run all of our buses until everyone is cleared.”
She added that passengers may experience delays as they make their way back from work.
Meanwhile, Premier Alan Winde said law enforcement officers would remain on high alert on the roads.
He said he met with the associations, Cata, Codeta and Santaco recently to speak about the Blue Dot initiative and added they could have told him they wanted to speak about their issues as well.
-EWN
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