Tshwane transport services in crisis as meagre fuel, fleet problems arise

The Tshwane metro left local commuters in the lurch last week as it suspended its A Re Yeng Bus services from Monday till Friday to iron out fuel shortage “glitches”.

These “glitches” were sorted by the metro’s finance department, according to Joshua Montsi, a senior executive support specialist at the metro’s road and transport department.

“Our department also has had meetings with the Tshwane Rapid Transit (TRT) management to provide an alternative to the prevailing fuel challenges,” he said.

A Re Yeng is managed by TRT and is a government initiative aimed at transforming public transport.

Montsi blamed Tshwane Bus Service (TBS) problems on a lack of buses to service the entire Tshwane.

He said the TBS did not have a stable fleet capacity as some buses were undergoing general repairs and maintenance due to normal wear and tear, while some were in the process to gain roadworthiness compliance.

He said 250 buses were positioned to service Tshwane commuters and 160 buses were required for daily operations; however, 135 buses could be found servicing commuters.

Montsi said this as 70 buses were booked in workshops for minor repairs and 45 required major repairs.

“We need an additional 500 buses to cover all of Tshwane’s seven regions. The current fleet can only cover a fraction of Tshwane.”

As the metro had a remaining budget of above R17-million for the 2021/22 financial year, Montsi said R12-million was granted for repairs, maintenance and renewals of permits for the financial year.

“The R12-million available is enough for the remaining period,” said Montsi.

“Our buses are ageing, which results in frequent services and repairs as compared to the new buses.”

In the 2020/21 financial year, the metro was among the 28% of municipalities that the Auditor-General (AG) said were in a dire financial position.

The AG flagged poor budgeting and financial management as concerns.

The report showed that the metro’s financial problems had been ongoing for three years now.

The report recorded that the Tshwane metro:

– overpaid three fuel suppliers due to a lack of effective internal controls and appropriate action to resolve the matter was not taken.

– for the fifth consecutive year, Tshwane received an unqualified audit finding.

– faced worsening cash flow constraints due to low revenue collection and inability to secure long-term loans.

– as of December 31, 2021, had cash and short-term investments of R200-million against an overdraft/deficit of R833-million even though it had embarked on an aggressive revenue collection campaign to save it from being cash-strapped.

The AG recommended that an investigation into the overpayments, recovery of such overpayments, disciplinary action or criminal referrals be appropriated against offending employees be conducted by August.

Tshwane mayor Randall Williams in response said the metro intended to address all the AG’s concerns.

“In some cases, we have already begun the work. We have boosted our debt collection through the #TshwaneYaTima campaign, and the roll-out of prepaid meters is ongoing,” he said.

ALSO READ: Better infrastructure and road safety features needed to save lives – RTMC

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram