THE City of Cape Town's mayoral committee member for transport, Brett Herron, has expressed disgust at the murder of a Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS) driver.
The exact details about the driver's death are not clear. The driver is believed to have been killed during an attempted robbery on Saturday afternoon while driving a GABS bus towards Wynberg. The driver lost control of the bus and flattened two homes in Nyanga East during the incident.
In a statement, Herron said the incident showed that the city’s transport infrastructure “has become an easy target”.
“I am shocked and sickened by this senseless attack and convey my condolences to the family of the deceased,” he said. The incident follows a week where minibus taxi drivers stoned several buses, set alight a city-owned MyCiTi bus and GABS bus and intimidated MyCiTi personnel.
Two passengers, including a pregnant commuter, were injured during the incidents.
Herron said the attacks threatened an already compromised public transport system, weakened by the unreliability of Metrorail in the city.
Metrorail has also endured “relentless attacks and vandalism” which left the service “limping along, with devastating consequences for our commuters and our city’s economy”, he said.
“The latest data indicates that there were 2.7 million fewer rail journeys in Cape Town per month in 2016/17 when compared with 2015/16.”
Herron urged Western Cape police to investigate crimes against the transport infrastructure “with vigour and the necessary urgency”.
“We cannot allow criminals to undermine and sabotage our public transport system,” he said.
Herron also urged Capetonians to support the city by protecting the city’s assets.
