Pretoria - Commuter Jennifer Makhubela of Mahube Valley in Mamelodi could hardly contain her excitement on Monday morning when she boarded a City to City bus to work after nearly a month of disrupted services.
Makhubela was one of the thousands of people who had to find alternative transport since 19 buses, owned by Autopax, were torched during violence that erupted after the announcement of Thoko Didiza as the ANC mayoral candidate for Tshwane. The mother of three said alternative transport such as taxis and lift clubs were just too expensive.
“We paid almost three times more using alternative transport.”
Makhubela usually pays R420 for her monthly bus ticket to her workplace in Hazelwood.
But since the disruption of the bus service, she had to cough up R1 200 for taxis and took four taxis to and from work.
To worsen matters, she had to borrow money from relatives to make ends meet since she had not budgeted for the sudden high expenditure caused by a change in public transport. She also used her children’s lunch money.
“I’m glad the buses came back just in time as schools reopened after the winter holidays,” she said.
MEC for Roads and Transport Ismail Vadi accompanied her and the rest of the commuters to work to mark the official resumption of the bus service.
Vadi arrived at the bus depot in Mamelodi East just after 5am and interacted with commuters at various bus stops. They, in turn, chatted with him and declared their delight and excitement at the return of the bus service.
Vadi said the date to reinstate the bus service was symbolic because it was on Nelson Mandela’s birthday. He said Madiba would have wanted to see people travel in comfort.
Vadi felt it was important for him to make an appearance to show commuters that the situation was now stable.
He said he wanted to give commuters the reassurance that all buses were running smoothly and safely.
“We heard a couple of commuters were disgruntled and scared to use the buses again. We therefore saw it fit to take a ride with them to reassure them of the safety.”
Of the 55 buses, 13 shifts were not yet operational - and the reduced number of shifts will continue for the next three months until Autopax has replaced the torched buses.
Passengers who had bought tickets for June and couldn’t use them due to the disruption of services will have to get them stamped to remain valid for the next three weeks. The tickets may be stamped at any Prasa office.
Pretoria News