POLOKWANE – Great North Transport (GNT) have confirmed that their services in Seshego will be temporarily halted until the situation in the area improves.
A GNT bus was set alight this morning as residents in Seshego protested over the ongoing water crisis.
Read more: Rubber bullets fired as Seshego residents protest over water
The MEC for the Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism in Limpopo (ledet) Rodgers Monama condemned the incident, adding that it was an intimidation attack on public transport services.
GNT spokesperson Mthunzi Dlamini said the bus was enroute to its usual pick-up point at the Seshego depot to collect passengers when the driver was threatened and ordered to get off the bus.
“We suspect the bus was petrol bombed, hence it burnt to ashes. Police were alerted and on arrival, the bus was already in flames. No casualties were reported, and no passengers were in the bus, at the time of the incident,” Dlamini said.
Monama said Ledet will be working closely with the police to investigate the incident as the bus was new to the fleet and bought to service the community in 2020.
“Although we understand the people’s right to protest, such protests should not cause irreparable damage to public infrastructure. This cannot under any circumstances be called a peaceful protest when buses are burnt, open fires are lit and workers are restricted from reporting to duty. It is a thuggish display disguised as a service delivery protest,” he said.
Known as the biggest and most developed township in the province, Dlamini said the residents of Seshego should not allow deterioration and destruction of infrastructure during any form of protest.
“This kind of behaviour hampers government’s efforts on economic reconstruction efforts, job creation, crime reduction and further alienates tourism attraction efforts into the area,” he said.
Earlier, police opened fire with rubber bullets to disperse the crowd who had blocked the N1 in and out of Polokwane.
Read more: WATCH: Chaos as rubber bullets fired near the N1 circle
Residents in Seshego are demanding the Polokwane Mayor John Mpe act on promises made to restore water supply to the municipal area.
