Petrol bomb attackers must pay for their cruelty

Even by the violent standards of protest in this country, there was something extraordinarily cruel about the petrol bomb attack on a bus carrying mine workers in Limpopo on Monday evening.

Six of the miners burned to death in the inferno and 28 of the 50 people on the bus had to be treated for burn wounds.

More disturbing than the sheer ferocity of the bombing, though, is the fact that no one seems to know what the motive was. The police appear clueless – although they say they are trying to crack the case “as speedily as possible”.

That comment is ironic, given the fact the cops did have ample warning about this attack, because there had been a number of other similar vehicle torchings in the area in recent months.

The attackers appear to have been targeting vehicles carrying mine equipment, but this was the first attack involving people connected to a mine.

It goes without saying that this sort of behaviour cannot be tolerated.

This is blatant terrorism, the murder of people who are just trying to put food on their families’ tables. Investigators should spare no effort in bringing these murderers to book and discover why they did it.

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