BUS INDUSTRY BUCKLES UNDER COVID-19 PRESSURE

SOUTH AFRICAN bus companies are under siege, with many operating at a loss and facing possible closure due to the impact of Covid-19.

This has forced them to reduce operations, shed jobs or face possible closure as a result of poor revenue due to dwindling passenger numbers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The South African Bus Operators Association (Saboa) told Sowetan that the bus transport industry spends in excess of R100m a month to comply with Covid-19 protocols, which include making sanitisers available for staff and passengers and ensuring that buses are disinfected before each trip.

Saboa said the retrenchment of more than 200 workers at one of SA’s biggest bus companies, Putco, and the closure of Greyhound and Citiliner “is reflective of what the entire Industry is grappling with” as passenger numbers have dropped by about 40 percent.

Bazil Govender, Saboa executive manager, said the costs of compliance for Covid19 safety protocols amounted to about R4 767 per bus per month.

“The total projected costs for the bus industry amounted to R102,728, 850 per month and these costs would have been largely borne by theindustry sectors as required for operations, with very little or no assistance from the government,” Govender said.

Govender said buses were struggling as job losses and restructured working patterns due to Covid-19 have ensured that there’s no return to normality.

“Load factors are once again hovering around 50 to 60 percent of available bus capacity within the industry, dependent on region and demand... (and) severely impacting passenger fare revenue that typically makes up about 60 percent of a commuter bus companies’ revenue,” Govender said.

Govender said smaller bus companies in the tour and charter operations were the hardest hit, with many having closed already as their businesses are dependent on tourism. He said those operating cross-border services had their businesses hit by the recent regional border closures, while the scholar operators were affected by school closures and the flexible school timetables for different grades.

Pucto has called for part of the Public Transport Operations Grant allocation to be utilised for emergency relief to protect bus companies that are currently in distress.

“Despite numerous consultations, no relief has been granted to date. This has regrettably led to the retrenchment of more than 200 Putco employees, affecting livelihoods in a country that has massive unemployment,” Putco spokesperson Matlakala Motloung said.

She said if the government did not intervene, companies like Putco faced imminent closure due to losses of revenue and declining passenger numbers. The company has a fleet of 1,400 buses, with operations in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, with more than 3,500 employees.

Transport minister Fikile Mbalula’s spokesperson, Ayanda-Allie Paine, said bus operators qualified to apply for various schemes announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last year as part of the government’s efforts to help businesses in distress.

“Bus operators, depending on their configuration and characterisation, were catered for by departments such as small business and tourism, to mention a few. Creating an additional fund in transport would have been a duplication of processes as the operators were already accommodated,” Paine said.

Paul Browning, a public transport analyst, said the future looked bleak for bus operators as demand for public transport had declined due to the pandemic.

“It’s fair to say the government doesn’t have the money to meet all the demands that are put before it because of the Covid-19 situation. The government should see what financial assistance it could give to local bus and taxi operators ,” Browning said.

He said long-distance operators would not have such a strong case like local operations as their service should be driven by demand, while the local service is important for the working class and the functioning of cities and municipalities.

Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said what was happening at Greyhound and Putco had hit workers directly as they were plunged into poverty and despair.

“While this may be a result of Covid19 and the economic pain it has brought, the way the companies have managed the processes leaves a lot to be desired. They ambushed these workers and failed to properly explore other alternatives to retrenchment,” Pamla said.

Pamla “The (bus) sector must use the training layoff scheme to avoid retrenchments and they must approach the UIF together with the bargaining council, similar to what Edcon did when they ran into trouble.”

He said Cosatu was also calling on the government to intervene and consider “purchasing a stake in the bus sector to save jobs”.

He said the government should also shoulder some of the blame as the lack of jobs meant fewer people would need to travel.

Wallet Khumalo, chairperson of the Greater Soweto Commuter Forum, said apart from the impact of Covid-19, poor services from bus operators such as Putco had contributed to people opting to use taxis and the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit.