Durban - Tens of thousands of commuters using Durban Transport buses were left stranded in various parts of the city on Tuesday as privately run municipal buses ran out of fuel.
John Wilkinson, general manager at Tansnat Durban, the private company that operates the eThekwini Municipality’s bus service, confirmed the disruptions.
He said the fleet at the Rossburgh facility had been the most affected, but would not say what had caused the shortage.
“It is an internal matter that I am not prepared to divulge. However, I can assure you that the management is giving this problem its attention,” he said.
He said they were expecting a fuel delivery last night and had been assured that the operation would be back to normal on Wednesday.
He said the northern Durban facility had also been affected, but fuel was delivered to that fleet on Tuesday afternoon. The worst-affected areas included the Bluff, Montclair, Shallcross, Yellowwood Park and Chesterville.
In May, the council resolved for the municipality to take its 450 buses back from Tansnat. The city has since filed an application at the Durban High Court to have the company liquidated, to recoup R40 million that it says it is owed by the bus operator.
Vuyo Mkhize, a spokesman for the company’s owner, Mandla Gcaba, said the liquidation case was still pending before the Durban High Court.
“It is not being withdrawn or finalised. The last time it was in court it was postponed indefinitely,” he said.
But the city says it is proceeding with the liquidation application and is waiting for the registrar of the Durban High Court to allocate a date.
In February this year, in a full council meeting in the city hall, it was decided that the eThekwini would take back the operations of the bus service.
Asked if Gcaba would fight the city taking back control of the bus service, Mkhize said: “Gcaba will only comment once Tansnat has been informed of this process, and its implications for the company’s tripartite contract with the eThekwini Municipality and the KZN department of transport have been clearly spelt out.”
The Mercury