Africa-Press – South-Africa. Cape Town – Members of the provincial wing of Cosatu marched to the Golden Arrow Bus Services (Gabs) depot on Thursday, to protest against what they claimed was the management’s failure to protect commuters and bus drivers.
Cosatu provincial secretary Malvern De Bruyn said they had held meetings with Gabs management, but claimed that there was not a successful outcome.
De Bruyn claimed that Gabs management had refused to take responsibility for the spate of crime on buses, and was trying to shift the responsibility for taking action to the police.
“They (Gabs management) did not give us real answers as to how to curb these robberies on the buses. We even gave them our ideas, but they did not take them seriously,” he said.
This comes after a public outcry over the ongoing robberies and attacks on Gabs buses, with commuters and activists accusing Gabs management of failing to protect commuters when they boarded Gabs buses.
Gabs spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer said the company respected the right to protest, and it reiterated that it shared Cosatu’s desire for safe public transport.
Dyke-Beyer said the the company did not want to have an adversarial relationship with Cosatu, and believed that much more could be achieved with their support.
“We have shared with them, and the public, our plan and have since had further discussions with local and provincial government as well as the police to ensure that our response is co-ordinated,” she said.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said metro police officers had been conducting daily and ad hoc inspections on Golden Arrow buses due to the constant robberies and harassment of passengers.
Last week, Transport and Public Works MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela revealed that his department, in partnership with Gabs, was on a mission to test new technological solutions to counter the attacks and robberies on buses.
DA provincial spokesperson on transport and public works, Daylin Mitchell, said while Gabs was a private company which received subsidies from the government, the City and provincial government had come together in a quest to create safe conditions for the 220 000 commuters who relied on Gabs every weekday.
Mitchell said the proposed testing of cameras and panic buttons was an important step towards making sure that commuters could travel safely and without fear.
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