This has, to a certain extent, disrupted the scheduled services rendered by the bus services.
This is according to metro spokesperson, Themba Gadebe, after a concerned mother laid a complaint about the chaotic operation system of the bus service.
It was the first time Sheri Nel’s Grade 8 son, who attends Boksburg High School, started using the bus services.
For the first two days, Nel followed the bus around so that her son would know what to do.
“On the first day, the bus arrived ten minutes later than the supposedly pick-up time of 7.15am for school,” says Nel.
“To make things worse, the bus driver was rushing through traffic like crazy.”
The next day, Nel waited until 7.30am to see what time the bus would arrive, but she left and took her son to school herself.
“What time the bus eventually arrived I am not sure, but the two girls catching the same bus as my son was still waiting.”
The afternoon, Nel also monitored the bus.
“For a change, on the first afternoon, the bus was on time, but the kids were squashed like sardines into the bus.”
Nel went to the bus service offices to complain about the overcrowding in the bus.
Here she learned from other complainants about the chaos of the bus services, with people having to wait for busses or having to travel an alternative route.
“How can they expect the children to wait until late afternoon before they get picked up? It is, firstly, not a safe area around in the CBD, and the children need to get home to do homework,” Nel says.
“I don’t think parents know this, or if they do, maybe also feel the way I do about the bus services that the children are supposed to use. I don’t think it is fair, because we are still paying for a ticket and they should have our childrens’ safety in mind.”
She also learned of other discrepancies, such as a confusion over what time the high schools start (7.40am instead of 8am), and issues such as an apparent shortage of drivers.
“How can they run an operation like that? The children are expecting the bus to pick them up, whether it is the same driver or not. Someone needs to operate that bus. They should have people on standby, if a driver is sick,” Nel explains.
“Parents are at work and trust that their children are safe, but they’re not.”
At the moment, Nel’s son is only taking the morning bus, which still arrives late every day.
According to Gadebe, in order to cope with the demand for busses, the metro made funds available to appoint additional bus drivers to be utilised at Boksburg and Germiston bus services.
“It is envisaged that the appointment process of these drivers will be finalised by the end of March.
“Additional buses will also be deployed and the problems currently being experienced should be resolved.
“We can then be able to fully honour the current bus schedule and enhance service delivery once the new bus drivers are deployed to both Germiston and Boksburg.
“We wish to apologise for the inconvenience caused by the unforeseen demand for busses, and assure commuters that the metro is doing everything in its power to provide a safe and reliable bus service to the community which we serve.”
