Two buses were set ablaze on Monday in South Africa’s Cape Town as local taxi associations started a two-day strike to protest against a termination of an incentive program.
The strike took off after the Western Cape provincial government, which houses the legislative capital Cape Town, announced recently about its termination of an incentive scheme for taxi drivers which called for safe driving practices and cut down on illegal operations.
But the government was forced to call back the program due to lack of funding that didn’t come after a little more than a year. This raged the taxi associations who called for a two-day strike in the city.
According to a Reuters witness, there were lengthy lines at bus stops by 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) as people waited for transportation to get to work and school.
The associations could not be reached right away for comment.
A bus was attacked by, who shot at the tyres to stop it from operating, the witness said, adding people jumped from the windows with a woman suffering injuries.
Bronwen Dyke-Beyer, a spokesperson of Golden Arrow Bus Services, said, “No passengers or drivers were injured.” The bus service operates a fleet of 1,100 buses in Cape Town, and it confirmed that one of its buses was set on fire.
However, Bronwen said the company was unaware of who was behind the attack.
Although there had been a number of incidents involving buses run by Golden Arrow and MyCiTi, the city’s rapid transit system, during the morning, the situation was under control, according to JP Smith, manager of safety and security for Cape Town.
He said, “The buses are running and they are being escorted by the police.”
