Something's amiss here: KwaZulu-Natal transport MEC Beke Cele pulls SA Roadlink's permit to operate in the province after the bus company is involved in yet another horror accident.

Something's amiss here: KwaZulu-Natal transport MEC Beke Cele pulls SA Roadlink's permit to operate in the province after the bus company is involved in yet another horror accident.

But Roadlink's top dog, Allan Reddy, boasts that his company operates "very upmarket" buses: "They are the best in the world."

Down in the slaughtering grounds of KwaZulu, Cele notes that Roadlink's bus bodies are built mostly of fibreglass, with no reinforcing such as roll bars. He even suggests it's time for the national authorities to step in and raise the standards for long-distance buses.

But after a series of earlier crashes Reddy launched a charm offensive in which he reassured the public that Roadlink ran the best safety programme in the industry.

Since then more of his fleet has been in fatal accidents, cops regularly pull his unroadworthy buses off the highways and drivers have come forward to say they must work ungodly hours without a break.

"I will not sit and fold my arms when SA Roadlink is now a moving slaughtering machine on provincial roads," Cele said when he yanked the company's permit.

Dear Mr Chetty, esteemed tycoon and all, maybe it's time to clear the air over the safety of your buses before you lose more customers.