The Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS) has called on government and police for help in protecting their passengers, after yet another targetted attack in a matter of weeks.
Commuters and a driver aboard a Golden Arrow bus were held up by two men, posing as passengers, while en route from Cape Town Centre to Tygervalley on Tuesday morning [February 2]. No injuries were reported.
Golden Arrow spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer confirmed the incident and said a case has been opened at Bellville Police Stations.
“We condemn this act of criminality in the strongest possible terms and call on SAPS and government to help our passengers. Anyone with any information regarding the perpetrators can contact 0800 11 11 67,” she added.
This is the latest in a spate of incidents targeting the bus service in recent weeks. In late January, three armed men held up the driver and passengers aboard a Golden Arrow bus travelling from Cape Town to Mitchells Plain.
Last week, commuters aboard a Golden Arrow bus travelling from Cape Town to Steenberg station were robbed by four men.
According to Cosatu provincial secretary Malvern de Bruyn, the trade union federation has met with management from GABS and nothing has been done to protect commuters.
“The fact that nothing has been done to assist those commuters who were traumatised because of the muggings due to crimes happening in their buses is disappointing,” he told the Cape Argus.
Dyke-Beyer also told the Cape Argus that Golden Arrow is working on creating a safer environment for their passengers.
“We have increasingly been dedicating time and resources to the issue and are hopeful that this will make a difference, and we have seconded a senior manager to a newly created portfolio which will deal only with safety on buses in terms of both our response and coordinating a response from the police and other law enforcement,” she told the news outlet.
“As a private company, we do not have the expertise that the police and law enforcement have when it comes to combating crime and we are very conscious of the complexity of the issue. If there was a simple solution from our side, it would have been implemented already.”
Picture: Western Cape Government