Durban, July 21: The decision to resume Durban’s bus service would be taken on Thursday, KwaZulu-Natal transport MEC Bheki Cele said on Tuesday.
“We expect to announce the decision to resume operations on Thursday this week once issues of recruitment and other operational issues have been addressed,” said Cele addressing the media in Durban.
Transnat, the new bus company which took over from beleaguered Remant Alton, was supposed to start operating on Monday but it didn’t because of the court challenge against its appointment.
Bus operators applied for an interim interdict against the eThekwini municipality and the KwaZulu-Natal transport department to prevent the transfer of the Remant Alton contract to Transnat.
Matter adjourned
The operators were not happy with the way the contract had been awarded. After being served with affidavits opposing their application, applicants decided not to proceed with an interdict.
The matter was adjourned by the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg to October 26.
Addressing the media, Cele said government was confident that Transnat was an experienced operator with a “very good track record in the province for running bus services”.
Cele said inconvenience, unnecessary suffering and torture caused by the unavailability of buses was regretted.
Remant Alton stopped operating on June 30 due to financial problems.
Thousands without transport
The termination of the bus service left thousands of commuters without public transport.
The number of buses and trips would be reduced because of the reduction of funding from government, Cele said.
“We have no choice but to terminate bus services in some areas, but they will be provided with alternative transport by minibus taxis or small bus operators.”
The eThekwini Municipality and the provincial department of transport would also explore if there could be ways of providing financial assistance to improve bus operations, he said.
Cele said the municipality and provincial government officials would have a meeting with unions representing former Remant Alton employees to discuss how some of the employees can be accommodated.
—Agencies