Commuters in South Africa have frequently resorted to bus boycotts to campaign against high fares. The Group Areas Act forces Africans, Coloureds and Indians to live in townships a long distance from their workplaces, and from shopping centres. This means that bus fares are generally much higher than people can afford to pay out of their low wages, despite government subsidies to the bus companies.
There have been several bus boycotts in recent months and in some cases action by the police and other government departments has been brought to bear to try to break them.
Increased fares, or threats of increases, led commuters to begin boycotts of services in Cape Town, Estcourt and Seshego (near Pietersburg) in June, July and August.
The boycott in Cape Town started at the beginning of June. After fare increases of between 30 and 100 per cent were announced, a meeting was called by a Bus Action Committee, which had 40 community organisations affiliated to it. The meeting decided to boycott all buses of the City Tramways Company which provides bus services for the African and Coloured townships around Cape Town.
Street committees were formed to organise alternative means of transport. One of the main forms were what were described by the press as 'pirate taxis'. Owners of private vehicles transported commuters from the townships to railway stations, several kilometers away, where they could get trains to work. They charged a fee considerably below that charged by the buses.
After some weeks police and transport officials cracked down on this form of transport, raiding the points at which people were picked up. Numbers of drivers were arrested, vehicles confiscated and many were charged with contravening the Road Transportation Act. It was alleged that they were carrying passengers for hire without the proper authorisation. In the first weeks of August many appeared in court. About 50 appeared before a Retreat magistrate, for example, on 11 August. In many cases bail was refused and vehicles confiscated. Those convicted received fines of R200 or six-months imprisonment.
Numerous eyewitness accounts indicate that in their attack on alternative means of transport, the police used batons, both against the drivers of alternative transport and commuters trying to board the 'taxis'. Department of Transport officials were seen, and photographed, armed with semi-automatic carbines at Mowbray station.
As a result of these actions, commuters were forced to walk at least four kilometers to get alternative transport, or spend three hours in queues waiting for legal transport.
The police action in Cape Town caused great anger and made the people even more determined. A community leader commented, 'This action of the police and Road Transport Board officials has simply made people angrier and more united because they see the government is helping City Tramways. Instead of making the company look into its fares, they came with guns and dogs and tried to force the people to board the buses'.
The South African Institute of Race Relations warned that the harassment of commuters boycotting buses had led to increased frustration and anger. A fortnight later two vehicles were attacked in Crossroads and a man stoned and burnt to death. Community leaders and the South African Institute of Race Relations attributed the violence to the government intervention in the boycott.
Apart from these methods, the government also detained some of those active in organising the boycott, such as Oscar MPETHA, Chairman of the East Nyanga Residents Association.
