Cosatu to help find bus bombers
Cosatu said it had made a call to all its structures to track down the perpetrators behind the Intercape attack.
|||Cape Town - Finding the perpetrators of Tuesday night’s attack on an Intercape bus should be the top priority for investigators, said trade union federation Cosatu.
The bus, carrying 43 passengers, was travelling from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape to Cape Town when it was petrol-bombed on Onverwacht Road in Strand, killing two people.
Cosatu said it had made a call to all its structures “on the ground” in the area to investigate and track down the perpetrators and hand them over to the police.
“This kind of violence has no place in our society and must be condemned and exposed by all. Cosatu will leave no stone unturned in its efforts to assist in tracking down the criminals who committed this act of terrorism. This kind of act – no matter what its justification – must be met with no mercy from the judicial system.”
Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich said the full might of the law must be brought to bear on the investigation and follow through on the perpetrators.
“We call on the national police minister to deploy special resources to Cape Town to investigate this attack. This kind of behaviour is clearly part of a more sinister agenda which will see repeat attacks that must be prevented at all cost.”
Mayco member for Transport Brett Herron said he grieved with the families of the deceased during their time of loss and condemned the criminal act in the strongest terms. “I would like to appeal to residents to come forward should they have any related information which could lead to the arrest of those responsible for this criminal act.”
Western Cape MEC for Community Safety Dan Plato also condemned the attack. He said he trusted the police would “continue with their thorough investigation” and those responsible needed to face the law for their crimes.
Transport and Public Works MEC Donald Grant said: “Such acts undermine the provision of reliable public transport and threaten the safety of commuters. We send our condolences to the family and friends of those who lost their lives in the attack, and we wish the injured a speedy recovery.”
National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa provincial secretary Vuyo Lufele said some of the union’s members who work for the bus company are on strike.
“We do have some of our workers working for Intercape and they are on strike, but to say they are involved in these violent attacks is not true. We have been making headway in our negotiations with the company, and our members are happy with the progress.”
He said that for the past three weeks members had been calm because the union had been briefing them regularly about the negotiations. “We can’t link these attacks to our members until it is proven. Law must take its course.”
Cape Argus