The sinister forces behind the arson attacks on Putco buses

The burning of more than 50 buses by unknown assailants at four Putco depots in Mpumalanga on Monday evening was clinical in its execution and quickly brought bus services in the area to a halt – which appears to have been the intention.

Putco spokesperson Lindokuhle Xulu tells Moneyweb the assailants ambushed and bound security guards at the depot before torching dozens of buses. Two security guards were injured in the attacks and are being treated in hospital.

Read: Gauteng government interdicted from amending Putco contracts [Nov 2024]

“We don’t know what the motive is or who is behind this, it’s deliberate and barbaric, but we have been cooperating with the police and we hope they can get to the bottom of this,” says Xulu.

The finger of suspicion will likely point to taxi associations operating in the area. This is how taxi associations deal with their competitors, said class action attorney Richard Spoor on X.

“Not hard to identify the suspects and the factory where 47 petrol bombs were prepared and the teams were sent out to carry out the coordinated attacks. The SAPS [South African Police Service] are however baffled. Do not know where to start.”

Run-ins with taxi associations

The four Putco depots targeted were Moloto, Wolwekraal, Siyabuswa and Vaalbank.

Each of the torched buses has a capacity of 65 passengers, which means more than 3 000 Putco travellers have had to find alternative transport.

Xulu says the company is bringing in back-up buses from Soweto and Soshanguve to restore services within the next 24 to 48 hours.

Read: Buses set on fire in Cape Town as taxi strike starts [Nov 2022]

This is not the first time Putco has had run-ins with taxi associations in the area, who accused the bus operator of taking away their customers.

“We invited them to our offices so they could air their grievances, and they told us they wanted us to stop operating our services at 6am. We made it clear that we are licensed to operate bus services and we cannot stop these services at their direction,” says Xulu.

Read: Subsidies for minibus taxis must prioritise passenger and city needs

The SAPS will no doubt be heading straight to the offices of the taxi associations to investigate any possible links with the arsonists. It said it is investigating charges of malicious damage to property, attempted murder, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm – though no arrests have so far been made.

First Intercape, now Putco

The recent attacks on Putco are reminiscent of a series of 165 attacks on Intercape buses operating in the Eastern Cape.

Those attacks occurred between January 2021 and February 2022, and included more than 150 incidents of shootings, stone attacks and intimidation of staff and passengers.

An Intercape driver, Bangikhaya Machana, was shot and killed in April 2022 while passengers were boarding his bus.

Read:
Mbalula chastised in Intercape taxi violence and intimidation ruling
Government must intervene in Intercape bus attacks
‘Landmark victory’ for public transport safety in SA – Intercape

The case found its way to the Eastern Cape High Court, which ruled that the SAPS and Hawks had failed to protect Intercape drivers and passengers, who were subject to a pattern of racketeering outlined in the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

The SAPS and the Hawks were ordered to investigate each of the cases brought by Intercape.

‘Something sinister’ going on

This is not the only instance of trouble and sabotage in the public transport business.

“There is something very sinister about these attacks,” says Martlé Keyter, CEO of operations at the Motor Industry Staff Association (Misa).

“For years the people of Kwa-Mahlangu, Moloto and Hammanskraal have been struggling with reliable and adequate bus services. For the past few months the embattled state-owned North West Star bus service [has] been unable to provide a service to commuters in and around Hammanskraal, running in arrears with the payment of salaries to its staff.

“The result is that the poorest of the poor have to pay R150 per day and more for taxis to get to work and back,” she says.

“This situation is affecting even more commuters after [Monday] night’s bizarre arson attack.”

Taxis targeted, trains targeted

Keyter demanded that Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu immediately appoint a special task team to hunt down the criminals behind the Putco arson attacks.

“To date South Africa has seen no major arrests, prosecutions, or links made relating to the spree of arson attacks five years ago that brought the services of Prasa, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, to its knees and sabotaged its ability to render services in the Western Cape.”

Read: Deliberate train fires cost South African rail service R636m [Oct 2018]

More than 200 Prasa trains were torched over a period of three years, most of them in the Western Cape, resulting in a loss of nearly R638 million in train fires.

Among the astonishing claims made before parliament’s transport portfolio, then Prasa chair Khanyisile Kweyama said many former Prasa service managers were disgruntled and were sabotaging the system.

Kweyama said the attacks on trains amounted to a national security threat and wanted the state security agency to intervene.

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