Outrage over brazen Golden Arrow bus heists

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Cape Town - Golden Arrow Bus Service has come under fire for being lax about the security of its drivers and passengers after yet another armed robbery on one of its buses. The SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), which represents Golden Arrow drivers, has expressed its grave concern about the attacks and the trauma they caused to drivers and commuters. In the latest incident on Wednesday morning, two armed men boarded a Golden Arrow bus that was going from The Hague in Delft to Claremont and stole cellphones and cash from passengers and the driver at gunpoint. Union spokesperson Zanele Sabela said: “We are not happy that the company does not appear to be doing anything to protect its employees and customers. “Although, Golden Arrow buses have on-board cameras, our members inform us these are installed to monitor driver behaviour We call on Golden Arrow to take immediate action to ensure the safety of our members and commuters,” said Sabela.

Shockingly Golden Arrow spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer could not give any statistics on how many armed robberies had taken place on its busses in recent months.

“In an effort to play our part in fighting crime, Golden Arrow will be renewing its enforcement contract with the City.

“We hope that the intelligence that has been gathered thus far and the work that the Enforcement Unit has done will contribute to more arrests in the near future,” Dyke-Beyer said.

She referred queries about statistics to the police.

“Golden Arrow once again calls on the SAPS, who are constitutionally mandated to prevent, combat and investigate crime, to locate and apprehend these criminals,” she said.

Going by published reports of incidents since May last year, the Cape Argus found there were six incidents.

In May last year, commuters on a Golden Arrow bus were robbed in Khayelitsha, and the incident resulted in a fatality.

In August, commuters to Mitchells Plain were victims of an armed robbery while their bus travelled through Nyanga.

A month later, Golden Arrow bus commuters were robbed on a Mandalay-bound bus.

In November, there were two separate attacks despite the deployment of 20 law enforcement auxiliary officers to protect bus commuters. One of the armed robberies took place on the Merrydale bus on its way to Mitchells Plain.

The Bus Enforcement Unit comprises members of the City law enforcement and is funded by Golden Arrow.

Shortly after the enforcement unit’s deployment in September, in response to a series of attacks on the buses, it made a number of arrests for various offences, including possession of dangerous weapons and drugs.

At one point they arrested a suspect who was caught illegally connecting electricity.

At the time Golden Arrow issued a statement which read: “Our operations team and the unit are making great strides and we believe that the project is making a real difference in the fight against crime.”

About the latest attack, police spokesperson FC Van Wyk said the robbers boarded the bus opposite the BP garage in Japhta Masemola Road and robbed the passengers. The gunmen got off the bus when it stopped at the Philippi Plaza shopping centre.

“No shot was fired and no injuries reported and a robbery with firearm case has been registered for investigation. The incident was reported at the Philippi-East SAPS,” Van Wyk said.

Anyone with information can call their nearest police station, Crime Stop at 08600 10111, or sms Crimeline 32211.

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