The Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in Makhanda issued a scathing judgment against the SA Police Service for failing to properly investigate attacks on Intercape buses and found that five provincial commissioners had failed to carry out their duties.

An acting Eastern Cape high court judge has ruled that the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the Hawks, failed to fulfil their constitutional obligations to investigate and prevent crimes perpetrated against the bus company Intercape, its drivers and passengers.

Over the past few years, Intercape has reported to the police 165 incidents of intimidation and violence directed at its buses, drivers and passengers.

The order issued by acting Judge Olav Ronaasen in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in Makhanda on Tuesday, 6 February, further stated that five provincial police commissioners -- in Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and North West -- had failed to report the crimes to the head of the DPCI.

The police were directed to:

"Investigate each of the crimes to enable the effective prosecution of each crime individually;Submit a report to the National Director of Public Prosecutions within 60 days of this order detailing all steps taken and progress made investigating each of the crimes and the status of each investigation, to enable the NPA to coordinate the investigation and prosecution of each of the crimes individually; andSubmit a confidential copy...