Anger and frustration at protest
Commuters badly affected by protest
Bus commuters expressed anger and frustration over the bus strike which hit the country yesterday.
Sitting worriedly at Johannesburg’s Park Station was John Mthembu who had bought a bus ticket to Tzaneen, Limpopo, last Friday.
But when Mthembu arrived at the station at 8.30am yesterday, he did not expect to be told that there would be no busses.
“As a customer, I should have been notified. I only became aware of the strike at 7pm with no indication which bus companies would be affected.
“I have a very important family meeting tomorrow. If I had been notified, I would have taken a taxi.
“Now, I am sitting here, waiting for a refund and do not know how much longer I will have to wait,” Mthembu said.
As millions of people are expected to flock to Moria in Limpopo for the annual Easter weekend church service at the Zion Christian Church headquarters, Putco spokeswoman Witness Mhlongo-Chuene said: “All our busses are not in operation. If buses are not able to render daily commuter services, other types of services will obviously be affected.
“All stakeholders have been advised of the strike situation.”
Ndalo Mgaga was supposed to travel to Durban by Greyhound bus. “I am frustrated. I do not know what I am going to do. I flew in from PE to attend to a few matters here. Now, I have to go home for the Easter weekend but there are no buses. I was also not notified about the strike.
“I might not even have a place to sleep tonight if I do not get a bus,” Mgaga said.
Across him stood Simphiwe Nxumalo, a first year law student at Rhodes University in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. She had just arrived and was scared she would not make it home for the holidays.
Bus company Intercape had a message “Business as usual” on a screen at the sales desk.
“I will have to use my car if the strike continues. I save a lot of money when I use a bus because it is cheaper,” said Putco commuter Cleo Masango from Meadowlands, Soweto.