Ailing bus operators seek Ramaphosa’s intervention

More bus operators could close down their businesses following the loss of profits due to the lockdown and Gauteng urban trains having ground to a halt due to vandalism and cable theft.

The bus firms have asked President Cyril Ramaphosa and Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula to intervene.

They have also appealed to National Treasury to set funds aside for the sector since they did not benefit from the government’s distress relief packages.

Ramaphosa last year announced a R500 billion economic stimulus and relief package to counter the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns.

Passenger services have ground to a halt in many parts of Gauteng due to vandalism of infrastructure and cable theft – and the cash-strapped Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has been unable to do repairs – with the infrastructure remaining unguarded.

A bus owner and chair of African Unite Borders Bus Trucks Association, Phumudzo Mukhwathi, said more bus companies could close down to follow Greyhound, which ceased operations recently due to the pandemic.

Mukhwathi said the long distance bus passenger sector had been struggled to survive under the Covid-19 lockdown. The situation had been worsened the grounding of trains by Prasa.

He said as they depended on passengers who used trains at Park Station in Johannesburg, they were now suffering because the trains had stopped working.

He said since the introduction of lockdown regulations, their daily profits had dropped because it took longer than usual for each bus to fill up and they sometimes had to abandon some trips.

The situation had become worse now with the increased cable theft and vandalism which forced Prasa to ground its train service in Gauteng.

“At the moment as bus companies we are running at loss because train passengers are no longer using trains. The passengers fear using the train facilities because of many accidents involving trains.”

Mukhwathi said they felt neglected by the transport minister because since borders were closed due to lockdown restrictions, the bus firms were never allocated financial support like other industries, although they regarded themselves as small enterprises sector falling under the department’s jurisdiction.

“The Greyhound bus company, which operated for more than 37 years in the industry, has closed down and workers lost their jobs. We fear that other bus companies will also close down and more jobs will be lost.

“We want the minister to help us,” he said.

Bus operators within the SADC region have been particularly affected with the imposition of the lockdown, especially those who used Metrorail train stations.

“Prasa stations are no longer economic zones for bus operators. Besides the vandalised buildings and equipment, there are also criminal activities against passengers who are robbed of their goods and money by thugs,” Mukhwathi said.

“We listened to the president’s Sona speech about job creation. Our question is, which sectors are they creating jobs in since all sectors are retrenching workers ranging from mining, the SABC and media in general. Because of these problems, Prasa could be retrenching workers soon.”

He said there is also no free trade for African business.

“Cross-border bus operators are experiencing permit restrictions issued by the Cross Border Road Transport Agency, the government and Embassy of Zimbabwe, which made it difficult for us to operate.”

ericn@citizen.co.za

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