Woman shot in attack on bus

03/07/2015.Angry Mamelodi bus commuters vent out their frustrations after taxi drivers stopped Autopax buses from ferrying people to work Picture: Masi Losi

03/07/2015.Angry Mamelodi bus commuters vent out their frustrations after taxi drivers stopped Autopax buses from ferrying people to work Picture: Masi Losi

Published Jul 4, 2015

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Pretoria - A passenger was fighting for her life in hospital on Friday night after being shot by gun-wielding assailants who opened fire on a Putco bus along Solomon Mahlangu Drive, as the violence targeting buses escalated in Mamelodi.

The bus was travelling from Mpumalanga and heading to Centurion when Lungile Mahlangu was shot in the abdomen.

Her sister, Nomsa, said she received a phone call in the morning informing her that Lungile was involved in an accident.

“I quickly got dressed and rushed off to where they said she was and found her lying on the ground with a gunshot wound in her stomach,” she said. “She said a group of about four men in a car drove next to their bus and opened fire at it.”

Nomsa said her sister was rushed off to the Netcare Pretoria East Hospital.

“She is in a critical state at the moment, but the doctors said she was lucky that the bullet did not hit her spinal cord, or she would have been paralysed,” she said.

Putco spokesman Tshepo Tsotsotso said five people, including the driver, were shot and wounded, and were all rushed off to hospital.

He said the company failed to understand why the bus was attacked – allegedly by taxi drivers – as it was travelling on an uncontested route.

However, this was in contrast to what the provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba said. He stated only one person was shot and wounded, while another four were injured during the resulting commotion.

“There was only one person who was shot, and the other four were injured while they were trying to rush out of the bus to seek safety,” Mothiba said.

He said no arrests had been made and investigations were ongoing.

When the Pretoria News arrived at the scene early on Friday, at least seven bullets appeared to have struck the bus, which was parked on the side of Solomon Mahlangu Drive. Shattered glass was scattered across the side of the road, while police officers milled about the scene.

Earlier in the morning, two buses belonging to AutoPax, which replaced Putco as the service provider in the area, were pelted with stones and rocks the moment the first daily fleet left the depot. This was despite being escorted by law enforcement agencies.

Autopax buses were scheduled to begin ferrying commuters on subsidised routes in Mamelodi, Ekurhuleni, and Sedibeng on July 1 after Putco opted to end its contract with the Gauteng Department of Road and Transport.

The company cited loss of profit as one of the reasons for the move. AutoPax, a subsidiary of Passenger Rail of South Africa, replaced Putco. However, its operations have been hamstrung, with buses being prevented from ferrying commuters by taxi drivers and owners. They claim they wanted to operate on the route and had an agreement to that effect with the City of Tshwane.

Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa rejected this claim and said the city only helped taxi associations by ensuring their proposals adhered to the criteria set out by the legislation. “All we can do is to make sure that their proposal conforms to the requirements for it to be considered by the department. But Tshwane could not have had an agreement with the taxi operators because those routes are not owned by the city,” Ramokgopa said.

Meanwhile, Gauteng Premier David Makhura vowed to bring an end to the violence meted out by taxi drivers. Makhura said the government would not be held to ransom by taxi operators through violence.

He said, if the situation continued to be volatile, law enforcement agencies would resort to crime fighting initiative Operation Fiela or deploy the army into Mamelodi.

He said ongoing discussions were being held with various factions of the community, which included the two taxi associations.

Makhura assured commuters that buses would be functional on Monday and that measures would be taken to ensure that violent incidents were eliminated.

“We are going to have a general meeting with residents of Mamelodi (on Sunday) to address this matter,” Makhura said.

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Pretoria News

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