Following last week’s article on allegations of horror stories inside Intercape buses, two more women have come forward to tell City Press about their traumatic trips with the same bus company.
Last week City Press reported how a 17-year-old teenager was allegedly molested by an Intercape bus driver in 2018 and another woman physically assaulted last month.
Now it has also emerged that on December 10 2017, between 3am and 3.30am, a then 17-year-old teenager was allegedly molested by an Intercape bus driver while travelling from Bethlehem in the Free State to Cape Town.
The woman, now 19 years old, told City Press that she boarded the bus on December 9 and took a random open seat, but was moved by the bus driver. He told her that her allocated seat was at the back of the bus and proceeded to move her to the last row.
She claims there were two young men right next to her, but they were moved forward. The explanation was that those seats were reserved for the bus drivers to sleep in.
“The bus driver then sat next to me and started talking. I answered his questions and spoke to him in a friendly manner. When the bus stopped in Bloemfontein the guy seated in front of me asked why the driver was so keen on sitting next to me. I told him that I was not comfortable with the driver and preferred if he sat next to me to stop the driver from coming back. He agreed.”
The man, who identified himself as Sam to the woman, sat next to her until she eventually fell asleep after midnight, she claims.
“At between 3am and 3.30am I was woken up by a cold hand taking hold of my own. The driver was back and he placed my hand on his private parts. I quickly pulled my hand away. He then proceeded to pull my shirt down while trying to take my hand back, but I refused.
“I was frozen, in shock at what was happening to me, scared and had lost my voice in that moment. I couldn’t shout. I finally found my voice and repeatedly told him to stop touching me and to leave me alone. He was now kissing my neck while trying to put his hands in my pants. I was able to pull his hand out of my pants and at that exact moment Sam woke up and looked back. I widened my eyes to show him that something was wrong. Sam asked the driver what he was doing. The driver then stood up and walked away. Sam came back to sit next to me until I reached my stop at Bellville station in Cape Town,” the still traumatised woman recalled.
The woman opened a case at the Bellville police station. Intercape told the woman that they would find her a counsellor, whom she met with at the Intercape headquarters in Cape Town.
“The psychologist, a pastor, prayed with me and told me: ‘God wants you to move on from this, you need to let go and put it all in the past.’
“I was contacted by a man who said he was the investigative officer for Intercape and that he was dealing with the investigation internally. He said that he had no problem cooperating with the police and taking the stand when the time came. But he is now no longer answering the calls of the police who are handling this case.”
The woman tells City Press that the police officer working on her case – which has since been struck off the court roll – at one point told her the driver was back at work, driving a different route.
Intercape denies this, saying the driver had been dismissed. It also said: “Management acknowledges the incident as reported in 2017. An investigation was conducted into the matter. Subsequent to the investigation the driver is no longer in the service of Intercape. Intercape at the time assisted the passenger to lay a criminal charge against the driver. Intercape condemns any form of sexual, verbal, emotional or physical harassment in the strongest terms. Intercape has an ongoing programme with staff to establish good character and conduct. The aforementioned acts are a direct cause of man’s sinful nature, no individual or company can be held responsible for the sin that man does. Once again, Intercape sees the allegations in an extremely serious light. The safety of all our passengers has been and will always remain our main concern.”
The woman told City Press she believed Sam would have been able to help her case, but claimed that Intercape had not helped the police find him through their register of passengers on that bus.
A separate case of assault involving an Intercape driver allegedly took place on January 3 2018. Nomvelase Skade boarded a bus leaving Cape Town for Johannesburg. She told City Press that she had booked seats for herself and her five-year-old daughter a day or two before leaving Cape Town.
She asked a woman who was assisting her at the ticket sales office to seat them downstairs as her daughter was experiencing diarrhoea.
Skade said that the woman said she would talk to the hostess on the bus, but that Skade should arrive early on the day of departure. She told City Press she did so.
“The hostess said the seats were only available for senior citizens, yet there were women of my age there and many available seats. I explained my situation to her and the two drivers just intervened uninvited, very rudely so,” Skade recalled.
Skade told City Press she humbly explained that she didn’t want special treatment, but that her daughter needed to be downstairs and as close to a lavatory as possible. Skade then informed the Intercape staff that she would be going to their office for a ticket refund.
“The one driver jumped for me and pushed me. My son told him to not dare touch me and then the other driver jumped for my son. My sister was next to me and told them not to manhandle me. He then slapped my sister. Then the hostess jumped out of the bus to stop them and immediately offered me a seat.”
In its response Intercape said: “Intercape acknowledges the incident where the passengers demanded different seats at the Bellville bus stop.
“Passengers were assisted by the pax coordinator as well as office staff at Bellville to allocate seats downstairs as per the passenger’s request.
“An inquiry was launched into the reported incident. A consultation was held with the two drivers. Management tried to contact the passengers who reported the incident, without any success.
“The drivers conducted themselves in a professional way. This was confirmed by independent witnesses during our inquiry.”
Skade, however, insisted she had not been contacted.
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