Putco delays commuters while fares increase
Pupils who use Putco buses get delayed for school as buses do not keep to schedules.
Pupils from Soshanguve Block XX and surrounding areas such as Itsoseng are fed up with Putco buses arriving late in the morning and afternoon.
Pupils complain that they currently have to wait approximately two hours for Putco buses to take them to school.
“Whenever I am late, teachers shout at me. They would punish me and that embarrasses me,” said Kamogelo Komane (10), a grade 5 pupil from Meetseng Primary School.
Parents need to fork out extra money for their children to use taxis when the buses do not arrive. A concerned parent, Olive Masemola, said: “As parents we are faced with a huge problem because we buy bus tickets every month which we budget for. But now we also have to borrow money from loan sharks for alternative travel arrangements. We fear our children might be under the threat of being raped or mugged [while they wait for buses that never arrive].”
At the end of June this year Putco bus fares are scheduled to increase while commuters are not happy with Putco’s poor services. Boitumelo Letlala, a Tshwane University of Technology student, said: “They cannot expect us to pay for their poor service. The bus is either late or it never arrives, leaving us stranded and with no alternatives.”
Operations manager at Putco Soshanguve, William Noko, declined to comment and advised Rekord to contact the head office for comment. However, numerous telephonic enquiries to Putco’s head office were unanswered.
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