Home | News | COMMUTERS STRANDED 5HRS IN KOMBI RIOT

COMMUTERS STRANDED 5HRS IN KOMBI RIOT

15/02/2017 01:34:00 BY SIBUSISO ZWANE

Font size:

ezulwini – Commuters travelling between Mbabane and Manzini were left stranded for about 5 hours when kombi drivers and conductors engaged in a protest against a police officer and a Ministry of Works official they alleged ill-treated them. (L) Conductors

MANZINI – Scores of commuters along the Manzini-Mbabane route were left stranded for close to five hours as kombi drivers and conductors parked their vehicles to hunt for ‘bo-Van Damme’ who were causing trouble for them on the road.

The incident took place yesterday when the conductors were protesting against a traffic police officer from Lobamba Police Station whom they identified as ‘M-china’ and a Ministry of Public Works and Transport officer (Jazi) whom they alleged were doing things that were outside the law.
The conductors said they parked their kombis because they wanted to ‘slay bo-Van Damme’, referring to the law enforcer and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport officer.

They said the police officer would summon them to appear in court for petty traffic offences should they fail to pay spot fines.
“When we ask him to issue tickets which we can pay within seven days, he uses the F-word and tells us that he does not talk to kombi conductors before summoning us to appear in court,” they alleged.

They said the offence they commit has a maximum spot fine of E60 and once they appear in court, they pay nothing less than E500.
They said as public transport drivers and conductors, they work on the road daily, so there was no way they could not pay for the tickets.
Again, they said if they fail to pay for the tickets, the Road Transportation Board has powers to confiscate the permits.

Their argument was that there was no law which permits police officers to summon people to court if they do not have enough money to pay spot fines.

It is worth mentioning that towards the end of last year, public transport operators had a meeting with Lobamba Police Station senior officers where they delivered the same grievance.