Metro Tansnat deal still secret

THE eThekwini Municipality is keeping mum on an agreement it says it signed with the company tasked with operating its troubled municipal bus service in Durban.

In a statement last week, the municipality claimed it had reached an agreement with Tansnat Africa CC on January 29 and it would seek to make this agreement an order of the court. However, details of the agreement have not been released and it is not known whether the agreement was made an order of the Durban High Court.

Asked about the agreement, municipal spokeswoman Gugu Sisilana said yesterday in a written reply: “Our previous statement stands. The municipality and Tansnat will issue a joint press statement should we have new information to communicate on the matter.”

Tansnat Africa spokesman Vuyo Mkhize could not be reached for comment.

Blockaded

Durban’s municipal bus service employees blockaded streets at the end of January after they were paid late for the second month in a row.

Earlier in January, there were several disruptions to the service and road blockages when bus drivers abandoned their vehicles to express anger at having not received their December salaries and bonuses. They were paid those in mid-January.

At an emergency session of the eThekwini Municipality’s executive committee on January 22, municipal manager S’bu Sithole revealed that the municipality had been forced to pay R33 million to keep the service afloat.

Sithole said then that R16 million had to be paid into the provident fund of Tansnat Durban CC workers to prevent it from being liquidated, while a further R17.9 million went to paying salaries and bonuses.

Yesterday, DA councillor Warren Burne said that he had written to Sithole requesting a copy of the agreement. “The DA is concerned about the relationship between the municipality and Tansnat,” he said.

Tansnat Africa CC is owned by Mandla Gcaba, a taxi boss and a nephew of President Jacob Zuma. – ANA