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BusinessLive reports that Putco bus services will resume on Friday after high-level talks between the company, the Gauteng roads and transport department and Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi on Thursday.
More than 230,000 passengers were stranded when the company halted its operations on Thursday due to a diesel shortage. Putco said it had not received subsidies from the provincial department needed to operate its fleet of 1,400 buses after diesel stocks ran low on Wednesday. The company spends R61.4m monthly on fuel. The halt to Putco operations came barely three weeks after the bus sector signed a 7% pay increase deal for the 35,000 workers employed in the industry in April. After the high-level talks on Thursday, Putco MD Franco Pisapia told reporters that the company did not have enough money because of long-term “underfunding” of contracts entered into with the provincial government. “Most bus companies find themselves in the same predicament. The fuel price has [increased] 110% in the last period and that has affected all bus companies,” Pisapia said. Gauteng roads and transport MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela said her department had engaged all bus operators in the province and was “finalising negotiations” as it wanted to ensure an affordable and reliable bus service for the people of Gauteng. Lesufi acknowledged challenges facing the sector and made an undertaking the issue would be resolved. Earlier on Thursday, a department of roads & transport spokesperson said the department’s payment to Putco for March had been captured and would only reflect in Putco’s bank account on Monday.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive
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