Pretoria - Commuters and children will wait in vain for municipal buses to get to work and school on Monday.
On Thursday, the Tshwane Metro Council issued a statement informing bus users there would be no service until further notice because of labour action.
This follows a sit-in on Thursday by some of the city’s bus drivers, which turned into a strike yesterday.
The action is the result of a dispute between the city and drivers belonging to the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu).
While the council said it “sincerely apologises to all commuters who will be adversely affected by the strike”, passengers are fed-up.
They have complained that it has been years since the service ran efficiently and last year, Tshwane’s executive mayor, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, admitted there were serious problems with the service.
Schoolchildren are arriving late for school, people are arriving late for work and the disabled, who have been relying on the service, say they have been let down.
“Further negotiations between the city and (Samwu) are taking place to ensure that services are swiftly restored,” said the council.
The council has urged commuters to find alternative transport until the service is restored, but for some alternative transport is fast becoming the only option.
Clare Braun, who works at the Pretoria News and depends on public transport, said she was considering taking a minibus taxi to town.
“On Thursday. someone helped me catch a taxi into town.
“Yesterday, I stood at the side of the road put my finger up and a taxi stopped.
“I asked if he was going to town and he told me to get in,” she said.
Pretoria News