Go! Durban has July launch date says mayor
ETHEKWINI mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has told the Durban business community that the Go!Durban bus service will go live at the end of July this year.
Kaunda made the announcement during an engagement with the business community on the draft budget yesterday.
The City has over the past few years set several dates for the launch of the bus transport system, but these did not materialise due to challenges with the taxi industry.
The C3 route that runs between Pinetown and KwaMashu is said to be complete and ready for launch.
However, whether the project will launch on the new date remains doubtful as the Durban West Taxi Association that will be “displaced” by the service said it had not reached agreement with the municipality.
The launch of the project has been delayed by numerous challenges including a dispute over the ownership of the buses that will run on the route – the City wants to hold the controlling interest while the taxi operators are demanding the same as they argue they will be losing business.
Kaunda said last year the council approved the Tactical Adjustment Framework, an amended approach to the implementation of the City's Integrated Public Transport Network.
It is specifically designed to achieve the following:
•Resolve the impasse with affected public transport operators around their participation in the new system, and
•Accelerate the implementation of the programme to benefit more communities, and operators, in view of the delays already experienced in implementing the programme.
The Mercury has previously reported that under this proposal, taxis will be allowed to continue operating on the route and will not give up their licences as had been envisaged before.
The mayor said, “Before the council approved this amended approach, extensive stakeholder and public consultation was conducted on the amendments.
“We are pleased to report that a contract for the manufacturing of 50 buses to operate on the C3 Corridor (Bridge City to Pinetown) has been awarded to Volvo South Africa, with the manufacturing of these buses currently under way,” he said.
Kaunda said the bid committees were finalising the award of a contract for the manufacturing of 300 midibuses, “which will be manufactured right here in the City, thus advancing job creation and boosting the manufacturing sector in the city.
“Over and above the investment to be made by the City and operators in the procurement of these midi-buses, the preferred bidding original equipment manufacturer (OEM) will invest around R260 million in setting up a manufacturing facility in the City,” said the mayor.
Kaunda said the City had also been awarded a package of grant funding, concessionary loans, financial incentives, and three free buses, all amounting to R132m to undertake a feasibility study for the deployment of electric buses in the City as part of Go!Durban.
He said should the feasibility study prove positive, the City has committed to deploying an initial 17 electric buses as part of its bus replacement programme, starting in the 2025/26 financial year.
“The municipality is currently hard at work packaging and negotiating a number of service contracts for the operation of Go!Durban services applying the amended approach as approved by Council. The anticipated commencement date for the service is the end of July this year,” said the mayor.
Kaunda urged the officials to work towards honouring this date.
Mathula Mkhize of the Durban West Taxi Association laughed at the suggested date.
“I have no update from the City yet,” adding that the City is likely to face political consequences for the decision referring to the upcoming elections.