Metrobus troubles laid bare
The managing director of Metrobus Mavela Dlamini has laid bare the poor conditions of buses‚ poor management and the lack of improvement of skills of driver that are troubling the company.
Dlamini told reporters today that the company was struggling to maintain its aging bus fleet.
Metrobus has 412 buses. About 270 of them are over 10 years old and 11 of them are 20 years and older‚ some even 26 years.
The company has 596 drivers with the average driver being 42 years old.
A series of accident have marred the company of the past years.
In July last year‚ a Metrobus broke down on the side of the road in Randburg. The driver left the bus unattended and took another bus and returned to the depot. A few minutes later‚ the bus rolled down and drove into a factory‚ killing four people. The driver was taken to a disciplinary process and he was cleared.
In February a bus drove over a bridge on Queen Elizabeth last month. The driver of the bus was injured and only came back to work today.
The bus was written off and the driver is expected to give a report on the incident.
“These kind of incidents illustrates the need to get skills improvement programme‚” Dlamini said.
In April‚ on Jan Smuts‚ a bus headed to Johannesburg hit a barrier line‚ veered and then hit a stationary bus dropping a passenger. Three people were killed during the collision and 66 were injured.
Another safety concern was when six men walked into a Metrobus bus robbed commuters and the driver was shot during the scuffle while on Oondekkers in March.
But Dlamini said it was not all gloom and doom for Metrobus.
He announced that the company would be spending R500-million buying 150 new buses. The first batch of these buses will be arriving next month.
Metrobus will also be introducing new training for drivers‚ a sobriety test and is planning on acquiring speed governors to prevent accidents on the roads.
Routes will be reviewed and buses be allocated to new areas such as Diepsloot‚ Midrand‚ The Glen and Vereeniging.