Commuters may lose bus service

2008-01-23 20:01

Pretoria - About 20 000 commuters could find themselves without transport if the Atteridgeville Bus Service stops operating on 5 February.

The private company said on Wednesday it planned to stop its service to Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, because the Gauteng Department of Transport owed it more than R25m in subsidies.

"Since April 2006 not all subsidies as contracted on the additional services were paid by the department and since the beginning of November 2007 the department stopped all contracted payments to the Atteridgeville Bus Service and currently owes in excess of R25m," the company said in a statement.

Its chief operating officer, Willem van Breda, said the company ran 125 buses transporting commuters to and from work.

Commuters paid for the service but it was also partly subsidised, Van Breda explained.

He said the company had had a contract with the department since 1996.

"The situation developed despite numerous and continuous reminders and notices of payment submitted to the Gauteng Department of Transport and extensive negotiations and legal actions and meetings to persuade the department to honour their contractual obligations, which were to no avail," the company said.

The company said it filed an urgent application for relief in the Johannesburg High Court and papers were already served on the department on Monday.

The MEC for Public Transport, Roads and Works Ignatius Jacobs' spokesperson Alfred Nhlapo referred questions on the issue to the department's Molefe Mollo.

His cellphone was switched off and he was not available to comment.

- SAPA