SAfrica cops posted on buses after shooting

September 03, 2009 06:36:16 AM

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Armed police tailed Johannesburg buses Wednesday and guarded commuters on board, after two people were shot on the new public transport system rolled out ahead of the World Cup.

The shooting late Tuesday came just two days after the launch of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), known as Rea Vaya, which has angered the mafia-like minibus taxi industry that currently dominates the city's commuter routes.

A policeman and a passenger on one of the new buses were shot in the legs from a moving minibus in Soweto township on the outskirts of Johannesburg, police spokesman Kay Makhubela told AFP.

Both were hospitalised and in stable condition, police said. So far no arrests have been made.

Makhubela could not confirm if the minibus was a taxi, but the industry had threatened to disrupt the new service with a large-scale strike, which the industry's main association called off on Monday.

"We were not expecting such things. There was no expectation of disruption because they indicated that they called off their strike," said Makhubela.

Both the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and the government had issued strong warnings to the taxis ahead of the Rea Vaya launch that no unrest would be tolerated on the city's roads.

"Such attacks on the lives of innocent citizens cannot be allowed to continue," Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele said.

"All law enforcement agencies are, therefore, stepping up their measures to protect lives and property, including a stronger police presence. We will continue to ensure that our commuters are protected at all cost," he said.

Buses ran without further incident on Wednesday in the two billion rand (253 million dollar, 178 million euro) project which is meant to revitalise poor public transport dominated by the dilapidated minibus taxi industry and ageing trains.

Taxi owners, known for reckless driving in often unroadworthy vehicles, fear they will be put out of business by the sleek modern buses. Protests by taxi operators often turn violent, while rival fleets have waged deadly turf wars over their routes.

The South Africa National Taxi Council (Santaco), the industry's main body, distanced itself from the shooting.

"It does not reflect on our position of constructive engagement to resolve differences," spokesman Thabisho Molelekwa told the SAPA news agency.

"It has never been Santaco's objective to engage in a disruptive and violent activity as this would defeat the very basis of our argument."

President Jacob Zuma had to delay the BRT's launch to try to win over the taxi industry, preventing the use of the buses at the Confederations Cup tournament, the curtainraiser to the 2010 World Cup in June.

Since then, the government has pressed ahead, seeing the buses as the first step in overhauling the nation's public transport, along with a new rail line under construction linking Johannesburg and the nearby capital Pretoria.

Public transport was neglected by the apartheid system, which forcibly segregated people from different races, resulting in poor regulation and shoddy safety standards.

The transport system has been one of the main concerns about South Africa's hosting of the football World Cup.

The new bus system was approved by Johannesburg authorities in 2006, modelled around those used in cities such as Bogota and Mexico City.

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