Cape Town - Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s decision to appeal against a Makhanda High Court judgment directing him to take steps to protect Intercape buses and its passengers is barely surprising, judging by his dismal track record.
The fact that it took the court ruling for Mbalula to actually know he should assume some responsibilities in making the operating environment safe for the bus company should be enough to tell you he is sleeping at the wheel.
Intercape should not even have had to approach the courts in order to have Mbalula and his colleagues in the police intervene and help bring to an end these senseless attacks on buses.
It’s perhaps worth reminding the honourable minister of the following: more than 150 violent attacks on Intercape buses have been recorded, including the death of a driver earlier this year.
No one has been arrested for 61 cases relating to attacks on the buses in the Eastern Cape.
People of Cofimvaba, Dutywa, Butterworth, Ngcobo and Tsomo are often left stranded because the company had to suspend operations due to intimidation, and only operated out of Mthatha on the inter-province route.
What is not clear is how much money the company is losing because it refuses to be part of an association, but surely this has a direct impact on its ability to retain some of its staff members.
Readers would agree with us that any job loss is one too many with our alarming unemployment figures, especially among the youth.
That is why Mbalula’s reckless decision to waste the court’s time and the already squeezed taxpayers’ money will have far-reaching consequences, just because of his ego.
It’s also dangerous as it creates the impression that there is nothing wrong with the actions of rogue taxi associations wanting to extort money from Intercape.
Mbalula should be grateful that at least a court reminded him of his job with no punitive cost order.
Others have not been that fortunate.
He should also be thankful that his boss Cyril Ramaphosa is spineless and won’t publicly call him out for his mounting failures.
That is something South Africans should keep in mind when marking their votes come 2024.
Cape Times