The Ekurhuleni bus rapid transit (BRT) system, called Harambee, has been extended from Tembisa to OR Tambo International Airport, Ekurhuleni executive mayor Mzwandile Masina said at a media briefing at the Intercontinental Hotel, at the airport, on Wednesday.

The Harambee project was part of the overarching objective of developing an integrated public transport network to connect the nine towns and the 17 townships in Ekurhuleni, he said.

The mayor pointed out that a further 32 buses would also be added to the service by February.

The buses were universally accessible, including for disabled citizens, and the BRT would be integrated with rail, including the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and Gautrain rail services, and taxi services.

The Harambee starter service already in operation transports 6 500 people a month between Tembisa and Isando.

Meanwhile, Masina also announced that a Europay/MasterCard/Visa card pilot project would be undertaken in November.

Fifty commuters would receive Harambee prepaid cards and the pilot project was aimed at testing the veracity, capacity and compliance of the systems.

“The modernised fare system will be rolled out in phases over the next few months. Ticket selling points will be rolled out in Hospital View, at Rabasotho hall and at Station 12, in Tembisa, as well as at the Kempton Park Civic Centre and the OR Tambo International Airport. Two mobile kiosks to sell Harambee cards will also move along the BRT route.”

The focus was on supporting inter-modal connectivity and supporting economic growth and development.

“The Harambee project connects citizens to new job opportunities, to better educational services, increased productivity and now, thanks to the new extensions, to new medical opportunities and international travel options.

“By connecting to the OR Tambo International Airport, the Harambee service will not only connect the citizens of Tembisa and Kempton Park to national and international travel, but will also connect them to various job and trading opportunities.”

While taxi services were unlikely to adopt cashless cards as a form of payment in the short term, the move to a cashless payment environment was anticipated in the medium term, said Kempton-Tembisa-Vosloorus-Rieger Park (KTVR) bus service chairperson Kenneth Mtshali on Wednesday.

The KTVR bus service was a public–private partnership company formed with Ekurhuleni taxi associations which operated the buses on the routes.

The starter service, which used eight buses, started at the Tembisa Hospital, on Flint Mazibuko street, headed south-west and turned onto Rev RTJ Namane drive, then onto Andrew Mapheto drive and onto Zuurfontein avenue.

The route then headed south on Isando road over the R24 highway with stops at Diesel street, in Isando, before returning via Quality street and Brewery street and following the same route back to the hospital.

“The Harambee Starter Service is a small section of the bigger picture and, throughout the year, the service has continued to steadily increase. The impact of the system can already be seen, as it carries people to and from their homes in Tembisa and their work in Isando,” Masina said.

The new extension would see ten buses added to serve the extended route in November, which runs from Isando road onto CR Swart drive through Kempton Park, down Voortrekker road, and onto the Cargo Service road and Airport road, stopping at the platform at OR Tambo International Airport.

Heading back, the buses would use the Boksburg South exit, turn onto Jones road and back onto Cargo Service road returning to Tembisa Hospital.

The project had been hit by construction delays, the mayor admitted, but would eventually connect Tembisa, Kempton Park, Boksburg and Vosloorus, east of Alberton.

“[Ekurhuleni] has invested more than R2-billion on the project so far and, even though we acknowledge delays, we appreciate the progress made and have adopted recovery plans.”

Harambee is a Swahili word meaning synergy.