24th June 2011

Root canal...ouch, will keep it snappy, in quite alot of pain...off to bed soon.

 Soweto’s flames of fury

Five Putco buses were gutted, a sixth partially damaged and a bus driver sent to hospital as angry commuters vented their frustration in Dobsonville yesterday.

And, while police set up a cordon, three men casually strolled past them and placed an incendiary device inside a bus that burst into flames.

The incident started at about 5.30pm at the corner of Elias Motsoaledi Road and Van Onselen Street, opposite the Dobsonville Shopping Centre.

“People started stoning the Putco buses and set them alight. One driver was hit in the face and taken to hospital,” said police Captain Mpande Khoza.

He said the attack seemed to have been sparked by a price increase, with monthly tickets going up by as much as R70.

Putco bus drivers last night feared for their safety as they watched from their depot, 30m from the incident, as firefighters doused the flaming buses.

“Drivers will show up tomorrow, but I’m not sure that anybody is going out on the road,” said one Putco driver.

When tempers started fraying, bus drivers called the nearby Jabulani police station.

“At the end of the day, it was two policemen, and they could do nothing but watch,” said another Putco driver, who witnessed the torching.

“It was a big crowd. They said they want more buses. Then they set the bus alight.”