Durban - Taxi boss Mandla Gcaba, whose company runs Durban’s beleaguered municipal bus service, has hit out at the eThekwini Municipality, accusing it of playing dirty in trying to wrest control from him.
Gcaba, a nephew of President Jacob Zuma and sole member of Tansnat Durban CC, claimed the municipality had made hearsay allegations against his company and had launched a liquidation application against it without “clean hands”.
He felt the city “suppressed material facts” and was “seeking through the back door” to wind up his company to take control of the bus operation.
Last month, the municipality launched an urgent high court application against Tansnat, claiming Gcaba had given himself a R30.7 million loan from his company’s funds which was allegedly not repaid.
Moreover, city treasurer, Krish Kumar, said in court papers that the close corporation owed the municipality R52m. The application to liquidate Tansnat is to get these funds back.
Tansnat has opposed the application in the Durban High Court and on Thursday, Gcaba filed papers, saying there was no evidence his company had failed to provide a reliable bus service. He said Tansnat’s bus service had operated at a 98 percent-plus efficiency level over five-and-a-half years.
Despite a few days of work stoppages, Gcaba said, this was in “stark contrast” to the municipality’s previous transport service provider, Remant Alton.
Gcaba is calling for an order to strike out Kumar’s affidavit, because of hearsay allegations; dismiss the application; and for the city to pay legal costs. He said the legal action was inconsistent with the agreement between the two parties to appoint an intervention team.
According to Kumar’s affidavit, Tansnat cannot pay its debt because of its failure to pay its workers resulting in the strike; the SA Receiver of Revenue was claiming R6m; it had a provident fund claim of about R7.4m; and it owed the city R52m. Kumar said the company was battling to buy diesel.
He said Tansnat was first outsourced by the city in 2009. It paid Tansnat about R15 000 a month to lease each bus and a subsidy of about R15m. Tansnat also received a subsidy of about R16m.
Kumar said the city bailed out Tansnat twice and provided the company with a R15.4m subsidy on condition a team took over its financial affairs.
In December, bus drivers went on strike over wages and bonuses and over Tansnat’s alleged debt. The city tried to cancel the bus lease agreement, but Kumar said Tansnat claimed it did not owe the city money.
Gcaba said the stoppage had nothing to do with Tansnat’s failure to pay its debts and did not constitute a basis for the liquidation application.
Gcaba said the city had agreed to advance the company funds to pay staff their Christmas bonuses but reneged on this undertaking. This, he said, resulted in the work stoppages.
He felt this application was “inconceivable” because the city had resolved to put the intervention plan in place and said the city had “suppressed” facts from the court.
The Sars liability claim, Gcaba said, had already been discharged by the time the city went to court and the provident fund claim was hearsay and had been miscalculated. The city’s R52m claim, he said, was “clearly exaggerated”.
“It was never contended that any portion of (Tansnat’s) liability to the (city) would immediately be due and payable,” his papers read. Gcaba denied the alleged loan to himself.
Daily News