The Ekurhuleni executive mayor Clr Mzwandile Masina officially apologised to the people of Tembisa for the inconvenience the BRT project caused local residents over the years.
Masina publicly offered his apology when addressing the masses gathered to witness the official opening of the new service route from Tembisa Hospital to Bartlett, and the handing over of 22 Harambee buses.
“Just two weeks after I first came to the city in August 2016, we attended to this project because we were told that there were teething problems that made it impossible for it to continue.
“The project was almost collapsing and we had to come here together with the new members of the mayoral committee. We realised that this was a badly planned project from the start, and I think that is why we encountered many challenges.”
He added: “This project affected the entire community of Tembisa because the first contractors came and redefined their own scope of work, which included the whole of Tembisa.
“So, the movement of people and transport was severely affected by these wrong decisions taken by the City, and I would therefore like to take this opportunity today because it is a good day to formally apologise to the people of Tembisa for the inconvenience caused by this particular project,” said Masina, much to the people’s applause.
He admitted that this project has been running at a slow pace but promised that all the stations will be finished in March 2020.
He said about R1.2-billion has been spent on the Tembisa route.
“We are here today to hand over these stations and buses to our communities, and we would like to plead with you to work with us in safeguarding these properties. We have used public money here, so please protect these buildings,” pleaded Masina.
He said one of the things they were trying to do in all townships within the City, through this project, was to connect and link all the communities within Ekurhuleni.
“We want to do what we call spatial justice because you would recall that the apartheid government took our people and put them in different corners far from cities. Through this project, we want our townships to look more like the suburbs and be closer to each other,” said Masina.
