Court clears way for Intercape in Ngcobo

Mthatha judge orders municipality to demarcate police station stop for bus company

The Eastern Cape High Court in Mthatha has issued an interim order directing long-distance bus operator Intercape Ferreira Mainliner (Pty) Ltd to load and offload its passengers directly in front of the Ngcobo police station.

The order, handed down on 15 September 2026, comes following weeks of disruption and a shutdown of the town by local taxi operators seeking to prevent Intercape from operating.

The Dr AB Xuma Municipality was ordered to ensure that a parking area directly in front of the SAPS station in High Street is demarcated and kept clear for Intercape’s immediate use.

The court order also instructed the municipality to keep the stop clear and not to interfere with Intercape’s use of it.

Judge Lindiwe Rusi further ordered that the Municipality identify and create a permanent bus stop for Intercape to use within 90 days.

Intercape CEO Johann Ferreira said: “The decision confirms what we have maintained all along and which has subsequently been confirmed by the courts, that Intercape has valid operating licences and has every legal standing to conduct business operations in Ngcobo, as well as surrounding towns.”

The directives are with immediate effect and will remain in force pending the return date of 27 October 2026, when the municipality must show cause why the order should not be made final. 

On that date, it must also show cause why it should not be directed, within 90 days, to “make available, establish, construct or designate a safe, accessible and properly demarcated public bus stop where Intercape can load and offload passengers”.

Intercape will continue to use the police station stop until its operating licences have been amended to authorise it to stop at the new designated public bus stop in Ngcobo.

The SA Police Service, meanwhile, remains bound by earlier court orders to maintain a visible presence whenever Intercape’s buses load in Ngcobo and to provide escorts when there are legitimate concerns about the threat of intimidation or violence. 

The order follows an application brought by the Engcobo Ratepayers Association against Dr AB Xuma Local Municipality, with Intercape cited as the second respondent. 

The Ratepayers Association had sought an order interdicting the municipality from allowing Intercape to load and offload passengers in the area, effectively seeking to shut down the company’s operations in Ngcobo. Instead of granting that relief, the court strengthened Intercape’s position and expressly ordered that its operations must continue without interference.

Intercape opposed the application to correct untrue and unsubstantiated statements made in the founding affidavit about the company, its staff, its private security guards and its passengers.

Permit claims rejected

The latest developments come after weeks of tension in Ngcobo, during which local minibus taxi operators shut down the town over a range of grievances, including their opposition to Intercape loading passengers in the town.

Among the claims made by the taxi operators was that Intercape did not have valid operating licences covering Ngcobo and was carrying more passengers than authorised.

Intercape rejected both claims as false.

The company says its operating licences and entitlement to operate in Ngcobo have been repeatedly confirmed through court proceedings. In December 2025, the Ngcobo Taxi Association and the municipality applied to intervene in Intercape’s proceedings against SAPS and contended that the licences were invalid. However, during the hearing they conceded that the licences were valid.

The shutdown in Ngcobo has since been suspended pending national government intervention.

Intercape says the latest court order provides further clarity in a dispute that has repeatedly resulted in unlawful interference with its operations.

“This order removes any ambiguity about where Intercape is entitled to stop in Ngcobo, while the municipality puts a proper public bus facility in place,” said Ferreira.

Public safety drove move to police station

The dispute over Intercape's stopping point has its origins in repeated incidents of intimidation and violence directed at the company's employees, passengers and operations.

Intercape originally operated from a designated stopping point in Ngcobo in terms of its operating licences. However, following targeted intimidation and safety threats, special conditions in its operating licences and a court order permitted the company to make use of an area near the SAPS station when circumstances made its normal stopping point unsafe.

The move did not end the dispute.

Intercape subsequently faced municipal interference and fines relating to its buses stopping in the vicinity of the police station, despite the special conditions of its operating licences.

The situation escalated in June when an Intercape bus was attacked by rock-throwing assailants as it entered Ngcobo, forcing the company to temporarily suspend its operations in the town.

That incident formed part of separate proceedings concerning SAPS compliance with existing court orders requiring visible policing and protection for Intercape operations when facing threats of violence and intimidation.

Another court order — another legal line drawn

The Dr AB Xuma Local Municipality has also been given 90 days to establish, construct or designate a safe, accessible and properly demarcated public bus stop for Intercape.

Until such a facility is established and the necessary operating arrangements are in place, Intercape will be permitted to use the SAPS station stop.

Intercape said the latest order must be viewed against the background of a series of Eastern Cape High Court orders concerning its right to operate and the obligations of municipalities and SAPS.

In June 2026, the company secured three further High Court orders concerning operations in Dutywa and Ngcobo, bringing its record to 17 consecutive court victories in the Eastern Cape.

Those orders included the Makhanda High Court’s order of 26 June 2026 interdicting the municipality from preventing, obstructing, sanctioning or interfering with Intercape’s buses lawfully stopping outside the Ngcobo police station, with costs against the municipality on the punitive attorney-and-own-client scale.

“It is unacceptable and illegal for a lawful public transport service to be shut down through intimidation, deliberate misinformation or unlawful interference,” Ferreira said.

“Our passengers have the same right to move freely and to travel without fear of violence as anyone else,” Ferreira added. “The Constitution guarantees those rights and they should be protected at all costs. They cannot depend on whether a taxi association agrees with our presence in a town.”

Issued by: Intercape Ferreira Mainliner (Pty) Ltd. 

Engcobo Ratepayers Association v Dr AB Xuma Local Municipality and Another, case number 2026-223830, High Court of South Africa, Eastern Cape Division, Mthatha. A copy of the order is available on request.

About Intercape: Founded in 1971, Intercape is South Africa’s largest long-distance coach operator, carrying more than three million passengers a year across seven Southern African countries.