THE Go! Durban bus fleet is yet to be purchased, and those that are already branded and parked at the depot in the Durban CBD are the old ones only branded for testing purposes, said eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana.

The delay in kick-starting the operation of the project, which costs the state R9 billion to build, has, according to Transport Minister Barbara Creecy, caused the National Treasury to withhold the R771 million funding.

Creecy had warned city Mayor Cyril Xaba that further delays would result in the permanent termination of the funding for this project.

Sisilana was refuting claims that there were more than 20 new buses that the city had already purchased and brought to the depot, where they had been kept in bad conditions since 2019.

“No buses have been purchased or delivered yet,” said Sisilana in a written response to this reporter’s questions.

Last week, IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said the buses for the Go! Durban purposes were brought to the city in 2019, and a few of them were integrated into the People Mover.

Sisilana gave clarity that the buses bearing Go! Durban and, which were seen with flat tyres and rust developing, “are existing Durban Transport Buses that were rebranded, and these buses are used for testing purposes”.

“These are not new Go! Durban buses,” she added.

She said the already existing Durban Transport Services buses were rebranded for testing and commissioning purposes “to facilitate route testing and driver training”.

“As part of the process, all GO! Durban systems must be tested before routes become operational,” said Sisilana.

“While the city is currently in the process of procuring buses for the GO! Durban service, no new buses have been purchased or delivered yet, only retrofitted buses from the existing fleet have been used for commissioning,” she said.

The city’s supply chain management process was being followed to identify and appoint qualified and suitable service or bus providers, she added.

Sisilana said the city would not be directly involved in operating the Go! Durban buses since the National Land Transport Act of 2009 required the fleet to be operated by the taxi and private bus operators.

“To promote empowerment, transformation, and formalisation within the public transport sector, therefore in line with the Act, the Go! Durban service is operated by these affected operators through vehicle operating companies, while the city is responsible for overseeing, managing, and administering the contracts,” she stated, adding that the city was yet to establish a vehicle operating company (VOC), which will comprise affected mini-bus taxi and bus operators to operate the bus service.

“Hence, the city was required to negotiate with existing Public Transport Industries,” she said.

Although she said the rebranded buses would be used for driver training, Sisilana said there were no bus drivers who had been employed as yet, and the drivers and other staff members would only be employed by the VOC.

“The VOC will operate the services utilising the fleet,” said Sisilana.

Nkosi said the project was delayed by some taxi associations and private bus owners who believed that it would not benefit them.

Creecy, early this year, wrote to Xaba, saying further delays of getting buses running had serious financial consequences.

On February 14, the Finance Department’s Intergovernmental Relations acting deputy director-general, Ogalaletseng Gaarekwe, informed city manager Musa Mbhele about an intention to stop funding the city’s bus project “due to underperformance/ non-compliance on the PTNG” and other projects.

National Transport spokesperson Collen Msibi said that after several meetings, the city promised to conclude the process of getting the fleet on the road by April.

Sisilana said the city had not yet decided how many buses would be purchased for the project and how much they would cost.

“We don’t know what the market would say the buses would cost. As the government, we cannot pre-empt that something is going to cost R10.

“The number of buses would be determined by the price.”

Regarding the Transport Department’s deadline, Sisilana said there were ongoing engagements between the department and the municipality.

bongani.hans@inl.co.za

barbara

eThekwini's Go! Durban project at risk: No new buses acquired despite R771m funding threat