Cape Town - The man alleged to be behind a spate of attacks on Intercape long-distance buses appeared in the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court where he was charged with murder.
Unathi Sitsili, 28, has been charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder relating to incidents between March and April this year resulting in the death of 35-year-old Intercape bus driver Bangikhaya Machana.
Machana was shot outside the firm’s Cape Town depot in April and died from his injuries in hospital three days later. Several other drivers were also shot and wounded in recent weeks, according to the bus company.
Sitsili has not yet been linked to the taxi industry, as he is set to appear for further bail information on August 22, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said on Monday.
Sitsili’s appearance follows his arrest at the weekend in Klapmuts during a tracing operation in the Cape Winelands by a team of detectives within the serious violent crimes unit focused on transport-related violence.
Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said: “The transport violence team is also currently hard at work probing other cases linked to the attacks on Intercape buses. The arrest of the suspect will go a long way in efforts to curb the attacks on the long distance bus service.”
Intercape CEO Johann Ferreira said: “The company hopes that this breakthrough leads to further arrests and the successful prosecution of the perpetrators behind a series of violent attacks, including shootings and stone throwing, as well as other acts of intimidation.”
Ferreira added: “Intercape also calls on the SAPS in the Western and Eastern Cape, as well as nationally, to continue with investigations to expose the criminal masterminds behind the campaign of violence directed at the long-distance coach industry in South Africa over the past few years.”
Mobility MEC Daylin Mitchell welcomed the arrest and said he would be following the case closely.
“In a recent meeting of the Western Cape Parliament’s standing committee on transport and public works, I made the point that these recent brazen and targeted attacks on long-distance buses are criminal and that the hitmen as well as their paymasters must be brought to justice,” Mitchell said.
“Western Cape police with other agencies in law enforcement have since intensified deployments along identified routes and hot spots.”