Intercape drivers speak after horror attacks

It was their courage to drive on and not stop their vehicles that saved the lives of two Intercape bus drivers and their passengers when unknown gunmen shot at them on the same night along the M2.

The two incidents occurred about five minutes apart in Johannesburg on Friday night. The incidents follow the death of another driver in Cape Town on Thursday.

The company has recorded more than 150 similar incidents in the past 13 months and has now hired a private security company to escort their coaches and called on their drivers to arm themselves.

The two drivers spoke to Sowetan on condition of anonymity as they fear for their lives.

The first driver was driving at about 7.40pm en route to Umtatha when he was attacked near the Geldenhuys Interchange to join the N3. 

“I was alert when I was driving because the previous night an Intercape bus was also shot at on the same route I was driving on. As I was driving I saw a guy dressed in all black walking on the side of the bridge. I continued driving and the man suddenly shot twice at my bus.

“The two bullets went through the window on my side and broke the glass. The passengers were screaming and I decided to keep driving to escape the shooting. It was dark and we had to escape quickly. I drove for the next 5km and saw a police vehicle at a traffic light and alerted them that our coach had just been shot at. I am scared and traumatised,” said the driver.

He and his passengers did not sustain any injuries.

Barely five minutes later, another driver was shot at on the M2 highway while en route from Durban to Pretoria.

“I was driving in the middle lane of the road and all of a sudden I heard gunshots. I realised we were being shot at just like our colleague in Cape Town,” said the man.

“The bullet shattered the glass on the driver’s side. The broken pieces were all over my face, in my mouth and eyes. I immediately applied the brakes and drove the bus to the left-hand side and parked it on the yellow line. My co-driver drove it to Joburg Park Station where I got medical assistance.

“There was blood coming out of my nose and mouth. I do not know what could have happened if that bullet got me. My left eye is still painful. I am scared to go back to work but I will have to go so that I can feed my family,” said the driver.

Gauteng police spokesperson Brig Brenda Muridili confirmed that two cases of attempted murder have been opened at the Jeppe police station.

“The cases have been taken by the provincial taxi violence unit for the investigation. The motive will form part of the investigation,” said Muridili.

However, Bangikhaya Machana, 35, from Cape Town, was not so lucky. He passed away on Thursday after he was shot on Monday last week.

Machana, an Intercape coach driver, was shot three times, after 21 rounds were fired in his direction when he was leaving the company’s depot to pick up passengers for a trip to the Eastern Cape. 

Western Cape police spokesperson W/O Joseph Swartbooi said police were investigating a case of murder and that the suspects are still at large.

Machana’s wife, Busiswa Khanzi, said her husband was the breadwinner and also supported his siblings.

“My children still do not know that their father has passed on. They keep asking me every day about him. I just show them a picture of their father on my phone to comfort them. This is a difficult period,” said Khanzi.

Intercape CEO Johann Ferreira said taxi associations were responsible for the attacks.

“These people want to see more blood being spilt and want to see Intercity buses being neutralised so that passengers can be forced to take taxis. The taxi associations are behind these attacks.” 

“We have hired private security to protect our coaches when travelling. We also informed our drivers who have licensed firearms to carry them when travelling. We cannot just do nothing. We are not going to stop the business over extortion...” said Ferreira.