Twenty-four passengers and a driver, on a Phoenix bus, were held at gunpoint and robbed on Friday, 13 August, at 5.45am.
The bus belongs to the Springfield Bus Depot. It had just left Phoenix and was on its way to town when the driver stopped at Crossroads to pick up passengers. Speaking to the Phoenix Tabloid, the bus driver said seven armed men boarded the bus at Crossroads. “When I stopped to pick up passengers, seven men got onto the bus as passengers. They stopped other passengers from boarding the bus. One robber held a gun to my head and the other six proceeded into the bus and robbed the passengers.”
The driver said that his cellphone and some cash were taken from him. “I could hear the passengers screaming in the bus but I could not do anything to help as a gun was held to my head. I was told to turn my face and not look at the robbers. “I heard the robbers say to the passengers ‘cellphone, money’. After robbing the passengers, the robbers got off the bus. They were wearing hoodies and face masks,” claimed the bus driver. The driver said that he immediately drove the bus to Phoenix Police Station where a case was opened. “I’m so sorry for what happened. I hope and pray that it does not happen again. I got robbed as well. I will continue driving. That’s my bread and butter,” said the driver. A manager of Springfield Bus Depot, who did not give his name for fear of victimisation, said that the robbery was reported to the police as well as the Department of Transport. “The Phoenix SAPS promised police presence at the Crossroads and Bester bus stops. On Monday morning, the police were at the Crossroads bus stop at 6.30am but the robberies occur earlier than that, when it’s still dark. We have complained but there is no police action at Crossroads or Bester. That is our route. There is no other route. We are being victimised. The Department of Transport has promised to take action. I hope that they do so. We get very little police assistance. The police need to do more to help us.”
Captain Louise Naidoo, Spokesperson for Phoenix SAPS, confirmed a case of armed robbery and assault on seven counts. “On 13 August at 6.20am the bus driver was driving his bus and stopped at the bus stop on the M25 above the KwaMashu crossroads to pick up passengers as he normally does every day. He alleged that while the passengers were getting into the bus, seven African males told the other African passengers not to get into the bus. “The seven males then entered the bus and one of them pointed a black firearm at his head and demanded he hand over all his valuables which he handed over, driver’s license, cash of R400, a Samsung cellphone valued at R6 000, while the other five males armed with knives and an axe robbed and assaulted about 30 Indian passengers taking their valuables. The suspects then fled on foot. The suspects cannot be identified as they were using masks. The bus driver then drove his bus to Phoenix SAPS and opened a case. Only six passengers submitted their statements thus far.”
