Buses are a headache, say residents

RESIDENTS living in Hugo Road, Sydenham are once again fed up with issues surrounding the student accommodation in the road.

According to ward councillor, Jethro Lefevre, he was very concerned to be informed that the transporters of students to the residence in Hugo Road had yet again started driving their buses into the narrow residential roads.

“Buses have been driving in St Theresa's Road and Hugo Road, leading to chaos and a confrontation with one of the residents being threatened by a bus driver because she challenged him. This comes after a compromise was found and all were happy last year,” he said.

Lefevre said this was just one of the reasons that residents objected to the student residence in the first place.

“In spite of my attempts to get clarity from Town Planning and Development on the legality of this building I am still waiting for a concrete response. I will be meeting with residents on Thursday to find a way forward. I have attempted to discuss this with the transporters but they refuse to communicate with me,” he said.

Lefevre said he was hoping this issue could be settled amicably once again and that the bus drivers would be forced to obey the rules of the road and be fined if not.

Doc Nhassengo, Director for Student Housing and Residence Life at the Durban University of Technology, said DUT had not received any reports or complaints relating to this matter from its students, student leadership or housing officials from the Hugo Road residence.

“In terms of the transport issue, DUT has consulted the Durban Metro Police Department and all the procedures that are being followed by the service provider and the landlord are those from eThekwini Municipality. DUT remains committed to working with the community. The university is monitoring the situation via our Student Services Division,” he said.