Ethekwini municipality is accusing its bus contractor’s staff of being accident prone and lackadaisical — including letting rain disable ticketing machines — as the two entities collide in court over the city’s woeful public transport system.
The contractor, Tansnat, owned by taxi boss Mandla Gcaba, launched urgent proceedings in the Durban high court two weeks ago to compel the municipality to provide it with the 450 buses it needs to run the bus service properly.
It accused the city of failing to comply with its contractual obligations, which meant drivers sat idle and passengers were stranded. It says if the situation is not resolved soon, it will be forced to retrench drivers, “which will undoubtedly lead to a strike” and a complete shutdown of the service.
But the municipality has responded with affidavits saying Tansnat itself bears much of the blame for the lack of buses in service. “It has contributed significantly to the shortage of buses due to collisions and the lack of day-to-day management,” says Malcolm Joshua, head of the city’s fleet unit.
He concedes, however, that the crisis in providing transport on certain routes is also due to an “ageing fleet”, a backlog in maintenance because of an appeal process by unsuccessful bidders and the national lockdown.
The legal proceedings have been adjourned to next year when the court will also consider a counter-application brought by the city for an order allowing it to terminate all agreements it has with Tansnat on one month’s notice.
Litigation between the parties began in 2015 when the city attempted to liquidate Tansnat. Last year the city put out a tender calling for interested parties to assist with a still-to-be established municipal entity to run the bus service, a move that Tansnat is challenging.
Joshua, in his court papers, says the initial agreement with Tansnat began in September 2009, was only intended to be for about 13 months, but had now been in operation for 11 years “on a month-to-month basis”.
He says a number of buses have had to be taken off the road for an extended period because of collisions.
“During October 2020, 54 buses were involved in crashes, 40 of them new buses … “Apart from the crashes, ticketing equipment has been damaged by rain because bus drivers leave the windows open.
“Cleaners leave lights on so batteries run flat. Drivers leave wipers on, which results in motors failing.”
Joshua says there has been a delay in the tender for a contractor to provide bus maintenance because of objections from two unsuccessful bidders. But 150 new buses have been bought this year and there is a fast-track process involving mechanical repairs to get defective buses back on the road, he says.
The matter is expected to be heard next month.
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