Long-distance bus company Intercape made a desperate plea to parliament's police portfolio committee on Wednesday to compel the police to stop acts of violence and intimidation directed at the company.
Intercape said that, to date, it had opened more than 200 criminal cases ranging from murder and attempted murder to intimidation and extortion. Yet despite providing evidence to police, there was scant evidence of arrests or prosecutions.
Advocate Kate Hofmeyr SC told the committee the attacks were serious but the response to them by the police was inadequate — even in the face of court orders compelling them to act. This, she argued, was a failure by the police in their statutory and constitutional duties.
Police managers revealed at the committee hearing on Wednesday that 11 arrests had been made in connection with the attacks.
The committee was urged to use its powers to convene a public hearing in which key SAPS members would be called to give evidence to hold them accountable to the public for their conduct.
Intercape CEO Johann Ferreira on Wednesday penned an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa — shared with TimesLIVE — about the continuing violence and apparent lack of response by authorities.
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Open letter to his excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa:
On February 15 2018, upon being sworn in as president of the Republic of South Africa, you took an oath to uphold and maintain the constitution and the laws of our nation. You solemnly promised to “protect and promote the rights of all South Africans” and “do justice to all,” concluding with the words, “So help me God”.
More recently, during your 2025 state of the Nation Address, you reaffirmed that, “The Freedom Charter is the cornerstone of our democratic constitution” and that “all are equal before the law”. You emphasised the need for a state that treats all people with dignity, humility, and respect, and called for ethical, skilled, and properly qualified public servants. You encouraged South Africans to engage in the National Dialogue, where “everyone has a voice” and “each of us has a role to play in building the nation we want”.
It is against this backdrop that I write to you, not only as the CEO of Intercape Ferreira Mainliner, but also as a deeply concerned citizen. I write on behalf of our company, our passengers, and millions of South Africans who experience a stark reality that contradicts the ideals and promises of your government. This reality is defined by corruption, failing infrastructure, unchecked crime, and a deteriorating law enforcement system. Even high-ranking officials within the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) have admitted that the state of our security forces has been reduced to a “Mickey Mouse” defence force. This is not just political rhetoric; it is the lived experience of countless citizens, including those directly impacted by the escalating violence against Intercape.
In 2022 I wrote to you expressing my grave concerns over the safety of our drivers and passengers due to direct threats from taxi bosses. These individuals demanded that we increase our prices, reduce our number of operating coaches, and pay them “fees” to allow us to operate. We provided all evidence to the SA Police Service (SAPS), the Competition Commission, and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), yet we received no meaningful response. Despite repeated warnings, our pleas for intervention were ignored. Mind-blowingly, the MEC for transport in the Eastern Cape sided with the criminals who attacked our buses.
On April 25 2022 one of our drivers, Mr Bangikhaya Machana, was shot and mortally wounded outside the Intercape depot in broad daylight by hired gunmen. I was at the scene within minutes. It was horrific, traumatic and devastating.
To date, we have 196 registered cases with the SAPS [including] 103 cases of intimidation against our buses while travelling with passengers, 15 cases of intimidation at our offices, 32 cases of shootings and 46 cases stoning of our buses while travelling with passengers — each of which amounts to attempted murder.
Intercape has been targeted because we refuse to bow to the criminal demands of taxi operators. We possess clear evidence that these attacks constitute a pattern of racketeering, as defined under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA). This evidence has been submitted to the Competition Commission, yet they refuse to investigate — citing fears of retaliation from the taxi industry. We have given them a deadline to grant Intercape immunity under our formal complaint regarding price-fixing among taxi associations and long-distance bus operators.
Faced with government inaction, we were left with two choices: either succumb to criminal extortion or seek justice through the courts. We chose the latter. Instead of addressing our concerns, your government actively opposed us at every turn. We have won all eight court cases against the state, including multiple appeals. Each time, the courts have ruled in our favour, ordering the government to cover both Intercape’s legal costs and its own — amounting to more than R40-million in taxpayer money wasted defending the indefensible.
The judgments that were handed down by the court were a devastating rebuke of your government. In October 2022, the court found that the then-minister of transport, Mr Fikile Mbalula, failed in his constitutional responsibilities. The court described the department’s response as “a deafening silence — an ominous portent of the government’s lamentable indifference to an ongoing crisis that poses a serious threat to the safety of long-distance bus drivers and passengers”. Mr Mbalula was flagrantly in breach of his ministerial oath but suffered no consequences.
The courts further held the national commissioner of police in contempt of a court order that compelled him to do his job. The commissioner did not even bother to file an affidavit in defence of his lack of action. The court described this as “not only unavailing but damning” and as “indicative of a failure to appreciate the obligations imposed by legislation and to treat the matter with the seriousness it deserves”. The national commissioner failed to appreciate what his obligations were, and much less discharged them. He too did not suffer any consequences.
There has also not been any public condemnation of the violence against Intercape. Not by yourself or anyone from your government. The shootings of Intercape’s drivers were not met with messages of condolences from any minister or MEC. No one visited the families or came to the hospital, or attended the funeral. There have been no serious undertakings to resolve this scourge of co-ordinated violence. Instead, the “lamentable indifference” was replaced by retaliation. As we were winning in court, there was a sudden clampdown on our buses. Drivers were being pulled off the road by the SAPS under the guise of checking clearly lawful permits, only to be released a few hours later. They showed no regard for the passengers, including the elderly and the young, or those awaiting their arrival.
The court found that criminals “were apparently emboldened by the lack of visible policing”, that the action plan developed by your government in response to a court order was so deficient that it would “send the unfortunate message to perpetrators...that the authorities do not intend to use their extensive statutory powers to quell the violence”, and that because this is the message sent by your government’s failures it may even have been “better to have no action plan at all”.
No-one in your government has been held accountable for this continued failure. No-one has been disciplined for allowing criminals to terrorise innocent people while millions in public funds were wasted fighting against justice.
Our plight is shared by millions of South Africans. Criminals are winning everywhere. There are mafias operating in broad daylight, in the construction industry and elsewhere. Our fight has not only been for Intercape and its passengers, but for every person and business that has the right to be protected from criminals. As an aside, your government tried to convince the court that we were acting out of self-interest. The judge had to put them straight and found that this “unfounded assertion” was merely “used by the SAPS as an excuse for not performing their constitutional duties”. The court’s exasperation was clear when it found that “[i]t boggles the mind why it is so difficult for a law enforcement agency to appreciate that when armed assailants take potshots at moving buses, deleterious consequences inevitably ensue”.
We have faced apathy and retaliation, while the criminals, the ministers, the MECs, and the SAPS generals continue to fail in their constitutional duties with impunity. The courts have already conducted the inquiries. The evidence is before you. Mr President, please hold your ministers, commissioners, and MECs accountable. Fire them. Recover the wasted money from them personally and use it to protect the citizens of this country.
These legal victories achieved by Intercape thus far are a testament to our determination to safeguard our passengers and to hold the South African government and police accountable for its blatant disregard for human lives and the rule of law. However, these victories offer little comfort when the violence continues, and justice remains elusive.
Mr President, I urge you to uphold your oath of office. Restore order. Enforce the law. Take decisive action against those who have failed the people of South Africa. Surely, your vision of “all are equal before the law” must also apply to those within your government.
Intercape is but one example of the cost of inaction. The true burden of your leadership failures is borne by every citizen in this country.
Sincerely,
Johann Ferreira
CEO, Intercape Ferreira Mainliner
TimesLIVE
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