Photo by: Bloomberg
The MD of Metrobus has laid bare the poor conditions of buses‚ poor management and the lack of improvement of skills of driver that are troubling the company.
Mavela Dlamini told reporters on Monday morning that the company was struggling to maintain its ageing bus fleet.
Metrobus has 412 buses - about 270 of which are over 10 years old‚ and 11 of them are 20 years and older‚ some even 26 years old.
The company has 596 drivers with the average age of drivers being 42.
A series of accident has marred the company of the past years.
In July last year‚ a Metrobus broke down on the side of a road in Randburg. The driver left the bus unattended and took another bus to return to the depot. Minutes later‚ the bus rolled down the road and into a factory‚ killing four people. The driver was taken through a disciplinary process and was cleared.
In February‚ a bus drove off the side of the Queen Elizabeth Bridge. The driver of the bus was injured and only returned to work on Monday. The bus was written off and the driver is expected to give a report on the incident.
In April‚ a bus headed towards Johannesburg on Jan Smuts Avenue hit a barrier line‚ veered and then hit a stationary bus which was dropping off a passenger. Three people were killed during the collision and 66 were injured.
“These kind of incidencts illustrates the need to get a skills improvement programme‚” Dlamini said.
Another safety concern arose when six men walked onto a Metrobus bus‚ robbed commuters and then shot the driver when a scuffle ensued on Ontdekkers Road in March.
But Dlamini said it was not all gloom and doom for Metrobus.
He announced that the company would be spending R500-million buying 150 new buses. The first batch of these buses will be arriving next month.
Metrobus will also be introducing new training for drivers‚ a sobriety test and is planning on acquiring speed governors to prevent accidents on the roads.
Routes will be reviewed and buses be allocated to new areas such as Diepsloot‚ Midrand‚ The Glen and Vereeniging.