‘Mr Fix it’ unveils first set of buses for Tshwane residents
“We have made a number of commitments to the community and we are here to deliver on those commitments.”
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula has unveiled the first batch of buses promised to the residents of Hammanskraal, Mabopane and Atteridgeville.
The vehicles were unveiled last week recently.
“We have made a number of commitments to the community and we are here to deliver on those commitments,” said Mbalula after securing the buses from the Gauteng small bus operators council.
Mbalula, known as “Mr Fix it”, unveiled the new buses after there was a protests in the Pretoria CBD against “old, unroadworthy, unreliable and prone to breakdown” buses used by the North-West Transport Investment (NTI) service.
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“As we indicated recently, the process to deliver on all the commitments will be incremental. Finalising the paperwork and ensuring that procurement is in line with the rules, and the terms of the contract, will take at least a week.”
Mbalula said the deployment of the buses would be in stages.
“The 40 buses will form part of a complement of 220, the procurement of which will be done through sub-contracting on the existing NTI contract.”
He said the buses would operate the routes NTI was unable to service due to fleet shortages.
“Gauteng will soon go out on tender to secure a new service provider. The competitive bidding process will not exclude anyone, including the NTI, should the company resolve its capacity challenges,” said Mbalula.
“We will also create an empowerment opportunity as provided for in the NTI contract for small bus operators to provide an additional 90 buses in good condition, who will be sub-contracted to provide the service.”
He said this exercise was not meant to drive NTI out of business but to prioritise the interests of the people and improve the quality of service.
Mbalula said the government under president Cyril Ramaphosa was committed to accelerate the provision of service to the people.
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Mbalula said NTI was a state-owned company and it was the department of transport’s responsibility to ensure that it would be able to provide a quality service, wherever it operated.
He said that his intervention did not threaten jobs at NTI.
The transport department has also conducted roadworthy testing on the current NTI fleet and had found more than 45 buses unroadworthy and were immediately taken off the roads.
He said the new NTI board was expected to turn the company around and complete a forensic investigation into allegations of maladministration, theft and corruption so the bus service could meet its obligations.
“We will institute a forensic investigation into the NTI operations to look at, amongst others, allegations of irregularities, maladministration, fare evasion and theft,” said Mbalula.
Chairperson of the Hammanskraal commuter’s voice Caiphus Makoti said Northwest star did not have buses anymore.
He said commuters travelled in unroadworthy buses resulting in a “lot of accidents”.
“Commuters suffer in these buses, they are involved in accidents and the bus service does not compensate these passengers.”
Makoti alleged that commuters were also expected to contribute to toll gate fees and diesel.
“We buy tickets, how can the company expect us to contribute monies amounting to R5 each for toll gates and diesel, daily,” he said.
“All we want is a reliable transport service in Hammanskraal,” Makoti said.
He said the population of Hammanskraal had grown and the bus service could not meet demand.
Boitumelo Madiba of Mabopane said: “These buses are in a dangerous state at the moment. They are not safe. They often break down on the side of the road resulting in passengers being late for work.
“A lot of the buses have broken windows. We inhale a lot of dust and when it rains, we have to cover ourselves with plastic,” said Madiba.
“They are often also so overcrowded.”
This past weekend we made a commitment to deliver buses to the people of Hammanskraal, Atteridgeville and other surrounding communities.
Today I am with them to unveil this fleet addressing their transport concerns. #FixingTransport pic.twitter.com/ttYXeoeLVo
— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) July 25, 2019
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