Gauteng commuters voice their anger with bus services
Complainants fear their jobs are at risk
Ernest Maleka, 46, fears that he will lose his job because he is constantly late for work.
Maleka, who travels by bus from his home in Soshanguve north of Pretoria, works at a retail store in Centurion, Tshwane.
On Friday, he was among commuters in Kliptown, Soweto, who attended the public hearings of the Gauteng provincial legislature’s roads and transport portfolio committee inquiry into poor service and fare increases in the bus subsidy programme.
“The buses are always late. Their service is very poor (but) I can’t afford to use a taxi. We want Putco out and another service provider to take over.”
Maleka said he was also worried that his wife could lose her job because she uses the same bus service.
In their response to complaints, Putco said most of the problems were caused by insufficient funding and old contracts that were not improved.
The company’s Andrew Sefala also said they did not have enough buses.
“We have insufficient buses because of underfunding. Overloading is caused by insufficient buses.
“We admit that some of our buses are not clean, we are working very hard to ensure they are clean,” he said.
On fare increases, Sefala said they engaged with commuters before hiking fares.
Sibongile Lukhele, 47, a cashier at Northgate Mall in Randburg, said she constantly fought with her husband because she arrived home late.
“I am supposed to be home at 7pm but I arrive at 8pm. My husband suspects that I pass somewhere because it happens all the time,” she said.
Autopax, City to City, North West Star and Ipelegeng buses were also under the spotlight.
The hearings continue.