Putco commuters left stranded – union says the company is settling the scores with government
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This has left many commuters angry, citing that they do not have money after they loaded the little they had to their tags.Image: Jennifer Bruce
Thousands of Putco bus commuters were left stranded amid the company suspending its services citing non-payment of their subsidy from government.
This suspension of services to about 200 000 commuters means that they will have to seek alternative means to travel to their destinations.
This has left many commuters angry, citing that they do not have money after they loaded the little they had to their tags (used to pay).
Nobuhle Buthelezi who is with Batho Pele Soweto Commuters Forum said they did receive the communication that there will be no operations due to the fuel problem.
“So we don't understand what is really going on between Putco and the government. We are suffering because of the two bulls. Us as passengers and stakeholders, we are suffering on the ground because people have bought weekly and monthly tags, how are we going to get to work if Putco has our money,” said Buthelezi.
Another commuter, Sthembiso Sibisi said as commuters, they were not aware how long this bus service suspension is going to take and when this diesel will be available.
“Communication is paramount, because currently people don’t have money. The money is in their tag. We say enough is enough, we are sick and tired. This nonsense – this game that they are playing with us – they are playing with people’s lives,” Sibisi said.
Putco said government was made aware that it was consuming its diesel reserves two weeks ago already but the Gauteng Roads and Transport Department still failed to pay the subsidy in time.
Putco bus spokesperson Lindo Xulu said they had been communicating to the department particularly two weeks ago when they saw that they were tapping their reserves.
“We told them that we were going to run out of fuel to operate, but unfortunately we did not get anything fruitful from those engagements. We saw them going to different platforms saying they have processed those monies on Wednesday night and will be reflecting in a matter of days. For us the priority is to get that money and be able to refill our tanks and get back on the road and service the community,” Xulu said.
He said it is regrettable from their side that close to 230 000 commuters were left stranded because of this development.
The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport confirmed that payments to Putco for the portion of March has been captured and will reflect on the bus operators’ bank account by Monday (8 May 2023) due to transactions from different bank accounts which take about three days.
“Delays in processing subsidised bus operators’ payments for March 2023 are as a result of a widely-known procedure and trend. The Public Transport Operating Grant (PTOG) only being transferred to the province by the National Department of Transport in the first week of May each financial year,” said Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport MEC’s spokesperson Lesiba Mpya.
Tirisano Transport & Services Workers Union accused the bus company of using the commuters to settle scores with the government.
The union’s Solly Madumo said the reasons that Putco is citing, is not something that they woke up to.
“They knew by their own admission that they had not been paid subsidies from March. They are having a service level agreement with the provincial transport department to which if and when they did not get the subsidies… the department had been defaulting in paying them subsidies for various other months.
“One day we should have made contingency plans to alleviate the situation. Or secondary to that is that if they did not get joy into that, Putco has previously taken the transport department to court on an urgent basis to force the department to adhere to the contract that they are having with them,” said Madumo.