Nearly a week after four Golden Arrow buses were torched in Nyanga, a service vehicle belonging to the company was burnt in neighbouring Gugulethu while the City’s Dial-A-Ride service was stoned. .
Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer confirmed the incident, adding that it occurred at about 10.45am along the NY5 road opposite the cemetery while the vehicle was doing rounds.
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town suspended its Dial-A-Ride service for the disabled in Nyanga after one of their vehicles was stoned on Wednesday. The back windscreen of the vehicle was stoned while a passenger was on board.
Police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk said a case had been registered for investigation for the torched vehicle.
“The vehicle was torched in Gugulethu, where a Golden Arrow LDV (light duty vehicle) was set alight. The circumstances surrounding this incident are unknown at this stage,” Van Wyk said.
On Thursday last week, four buses, a City of Cape Town municipal truck and private vehicles were set alight in the Nyanga and Philippi areas following a City operation targeting locally operating taxis known as amaphela (cockroaches).
To date, Golden Arrow has not been able to fully operate at the Nyanga terminus.
“We are currently operating from Nyanga SAPS. We are also not operating on the section of Govan Mbeki between Duinefontein and Swartklip (roads). Updates on any other potential diversions will be shared when confirmed,” said Dyke-Beyer.
Mayco member for Urban Mobility, Councillor Rob Quintas said the ongoing violence in Nyanga impacted the City’s services in the area.
“The targeting of vulnerable residents as with (Wednesday’s) Dial-a-Ride incident is unacceptable and cannot happen. The livelihood of these vulnerable passengers depend on the availability of the DAR services. These residents are being heavily impacted by this suspension, but we cannot risk their safety while this unrest continues.
“We have also received a report of a GABSvehicle that was set alight at NY5 earlier opposite the cemetery in Nyanga, where one female GABS official has been injured. The wholesale destruction of these service delivery vehicles stops the delivery of essential services to the communities that need it most,” he said
Last week, MEC for Transport Daylin Mitchell condemned the burning of buses.
On August 5, GABS told the standing committee on transport and public works that in the last financial year, it had spent R2 million to fit new windows, and every time a bus was lost it cost the company R2.7m.
Weekend Argus