Communters can obtain more details from the website www.muvo.co.za or aleternatively contact the operator on 031-309-3250.
Council has endorsed a decision taken by city manager, Sibusiso Sithole in December to pay Durban bus service operator, Tansnat, an advance of R8.1-million to avert a disruption to the service.
Sithole briefed Executive Committee (Exco) members about the decision at a committee meeting at the end of January. He explained the advance payment to Tansnat was to enable the company to pay staff to ensure a continuity of the bus service.
He said because of the urgency of the matter, it was not possible at the time to obtain approval from Exco.
Sithole also advised council that an urgent decision had to be taken on the future of the bus service to ensure that commuters are not affected by operational matters.
Various options have been presented to council about the future sustainability of the bus service and the funding models the city should adopt to ensure the service runs more efficiently.
In August 2012, council resolved that the municipality would take over the full operation of the bus company.
Another option was the city could either operate the Durban Transport Service as a council unit or as a trading service. The municipality could also establish a municipal entity in terms of the Local Government Municipal Systems Act, to run the service.
Sithole said the municipality had to decide on an option that would be in the best interest for the city’s ratepayers.
“We must speed up the process and make a decision on the ultimate option. Thereafter we must give a report to the province through the task team. They will have to give input because they have a say on the subsidy allocation,” said Sithole.
In a press statement to the Sun on Tuesday, 4 February, municipal spokesman, Thabo Mofokeng said the decision whether the service should be taken over by the city still needed to be considered by Exco.
Sithole said the bus service had been briefly disrupted in December because of allegations that Tansnat employees had not been paid on time. Other allegations were that there were diesel supply problems.
He said the operator also claimed that it was owed R50-million by the city since 2010 which was being investigated. “We are refuting the claim but we are not dismissing them. An independent service provider will do an analysis to determine the veracity of their claim,” said Sithole.
Mayor James Nxumalo said the eThekwini Transport Authority should present a thorough report to Exco on the future of the bus service.
A report has been presented to council clarifying an agreement had been signed by Sithole on 24 October, 2013 of which R18-million of the credit due to Tansnat was paid to the company on condition they settled the debt they owed the city over a six-month-period.
Sithole said Tansnat agreed to sign a cession for the payment of R4-million per month to the city.
Claims by Tansnat that they were being over-charged were still being investigated.
