Durban’s municipal bus service pays its way without being bailed out
Durban’s municipal bus service paid its way for the first time in several months without the municipality being forced to bail out the operator of the service.
According to a statement released by the eThekwini Metro Municipality, city manager Sibusiso Sithole revealed that in March the salaries of all the service’s employees were met through the collection of fares.
The service, operated by Tansnat Africa CC, a company owned by President Jacob Zuma’s taxi-boss nephew Mandla Gcaba, has since last year made headline after staff have on several occasions received their salaries late.
Since the beginning of February, the service, which carries some two-million passengers every month, has been run by an intervention team run auditors by KPMG.
“March payments for staff salaries was made from the fare income collected without requiring the City’s contribution,” read the statement.
At an emergency session of the eThekwini Metro municipality’s executive committee on January 22, Sithole revealed that the municipality had been forced to fork out R33-million to keep the service afloat.
He said then that R16-million had to be paid into the provident fund of Tansnat Durban CC workers to prevent it from being liquidated, while a further R17.9-million had to be paid to the workers of the bus service to cover their December salaries and bonuses.
The bus service was sold by the municipality in 2003 to Remant Alton Land Transport for R70-million. In 2008 the municipality spent R405-million buying back the buses from the troubled Remant Alton. The company continued to operate the service owned by the municipality for another year.
In 2009, Tansnat was appointed to run the service, but that too has been less than satisfactory, with the municipality having to inject extra funding into the service.
Tansnat CC has struggled to keep the service operating and has also been sued by the municipality.
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