Cape Town - Cosatu has taken its fight with the City of Cape Town over the roll out of MyCiTi buses to the Equality Court.
Court papers have been filed in which Cosatu claims the city has been unfair in its choice of routes, and is discriminating against people living in the Cape Flats where the need for public transport was greater.
The union says that the delayed roll out of buses in Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha “exposes the city’s bias” - discriminating between residents on the Cape Flats and residents in Milnerton, a “more affluent” community which received one of the first routes.
Cosatu said since the buses starting running in Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, they were not always available or on time.
“Furthermore, no bus stops are constructed in these areas and people have to stand around, waiting for a bus that may or may not arrive, in extremely uncomfortable environs.
“We believe this is incompetence by the city and another point in support of their non-caring attitude towards the communities not living in the shadows of Table Mountain.”
The union accused the city of not prioritising the needs of communities where people did not have alternative modes of transport and was instead “focusing on the wealthier old white areas in the main, when those areas have access and can afford alternative means of transport”.
Cosatu said it was filing the application on behalf of its 240 000 members in the Western Cape “who are adversely affected by the transport situation in Cape Town”.
The union demands, among other things, the immediate extension of the MyCiTi services into the Cape Flats areas, with specified timelines, the construction of sufficient numbers of buses, bus stops “and the appropriate numbers of people employed to give effect to this need”.
They want facilities to be divided among different areas, based on the needs that exist in the various areas.
In its response to the Equality Court, the city said: “The reality is that the city is faced with a number of hard choices when it comes to the allocation of buses.”
It said it was sensitive to the concerns of those living in the Metro South East - Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha - adding that they needed to consider the demands of those living on the West Coast, including Atlantis, Dunoon, Doornbach, Parklands, and Imizamo Yethu near Hout Bay who did not have access to trains and limited access to other buses.
It said that at the time Cosatu lodged the application with the court, the N2 Express service was either under construction or waiting for authorisation for construction to commence.
It added that all shelters and stops for the current routes in Mitchells Plain were complete, and all shelters and stops in Khayelitsha were complete with “minor snags remaining to be addressed”.
The matter is expected to be back in court on March 26.
Cape Argus