Tshwane bus services withdrawn as attacks on city workers continue

Tshwane Bus Services and A Re Yeng were the latest operations to be withdrawn in the city on Wednesday after several incidents of organised violence and destruction of property. 

Three trucks from the water and sanitation division, an A Re Yeng bus, a Tshwane bakkie and a water tanker were damaged in violent attacks in Pretoria CBD this week. Four of the vehicles were torched and at least one employee was assaulted and taken to hospital in a serious condition.

MMC for roads and transport Katlego Mathebe said the decision to suspend operations is in the interest of the safety of commuters and employees.

“It is important that we protect city infrastructure from these criminal acts. It is now clear that the city is no longer dealing with an illegal strike action, we are now dealing with a well-co-ordinated criminal attack on our infrastructure. I would like to apologise to our commuters for the inconvenience caused,” he said.

The city will intensify efforts to get the bus services back on track when it is safer to do so, Mathebe added. 

Some City of Tshwane workers downed tools in July after the metro said it did not have the cash to increase wages. The SA Local Government Bargaining Council this week dismissed an application by the Tshwane metro to exempt it from implementing the last leg of a multi-term wage deal reached in the council in 2021.

The city administration said on Tuesday it intends to challenge the ruling.

MMC for human settlements Ofentse Madzebatela called for swift police action after the attacks.

“I am dismayed at the attack on a driver of a water tanker truck and the torching of the truck in Pretoria CBD yesterday. The driver was physically assaulted but luckily was able to escape without sustaining any serious injuries,” said Madzebatela.

Due to the violent nature of the unprotected strike, the Tshwane metro police department [TMPD] usually escorts water tankers when they do their rounds throughout Tshwane, but this time the TMPD was delayed and the driver drove out on his own from Prince’s Park depot to region 4, where the delivery of much-needed water was supposed to be made.”

The driver was ambushed as he made his way out of the depot and then assaulted, said Madzebatela. The water tanker serves the vulnerable residents of Olievenhoutbosch informal settlement in region 4.

A criminal case has been opened with SAPS, he added. 

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