Extension of Harambee BRT halted due to apparent payment failure
Harambee began operations with only eight buses in October 2017 from Rabasotho Hall to Isando. In December 2018, a secondary complementary route from Thembisa Hospital to the airport was launched and 10 additional new buses were introduced in January 2019.
The new fleet of 22 Harambee BRT buses which were supposed to be operating from Thembisa to Boksburg have been halted apparently until the metro pays up a compensation amount to the KTVR Bus Services.
This was revealed during the KTVR Bus Services stakeholders’ engagement forum on February 18, aimed at updating members on how the metro’s new bus project is unfolding.
KTVR Bus Service is a private company registered with the Company’s Intellectual Property Commission to operate the interim service of the Harambee Intergrated Rapid Public Transport Network.
Last year October, KTVR Bus Service in partnership with the metro launched the extension of the Harambee BRT service.
The new service route which was planned to start at Thembisa Hospital and end in Bartlett comprised of alternative routes that go via Director Road and André Greyvenstein Road before linking at Bartlett and Emperors Palace via Jones Road.
According to the KTVR Bus Services public relations director, Bhuthi Mahlangu, the buses will not operate until the metro has paid the compensation amount of R28-million to the taxi industry.
He explained that the interim compensation fund goes to taxi operators who are now going to be running a per cent short due to the loss of passengers because of the introduction of the bus system.
“Currently, this operation affects three groups of operators – Thembisa, Isando and Kempton Park,” he said.
He said there was an agreement between the metro and the taxi industry that they should pay R28-m upfront before the operation commences.
“The last engagement we had with the metro was last year November. We were told they ran out of funds for all BRT projects. Service providers have not been paid and KTVR itself hasn’t been paid since August because they ran out of money. We are still waiting for them,” Mahlangu said.
KTVR’s chief operating officer, Puleng Ntuli, gave an update about the developments on the operations side.
She highlighted that since the start of the BRT service in October 2017, for the first time in 2019, they operated during the festive season between Thembisa and OR Tambo International Airport via Kempton Park. Apparently the implementation of the festive season was a success, with 47 392 tickets sold in three weeks.
“Previously during the festive season we had a shutdown of services. During the 2019 festive season we experienced an influx of passengers due to Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) suspending its services for the entire festive season.
“We experienced some challenges because we were not informed about this and some of our buses were vandalised by people who could not be assisted, but eventually we were able to cater for those people,” Ntuli said.
Ntuli said in future they will create a communication line between themselves and Prasa so they are informed in time in order to avail an adequate number of buses and drivers.
Matikane Mathebe from the City of Ekurhuleni gave an update on the construction side of BRT stations and depot.
During his presentation, he mentioned the construction work being carried out at Leralla Temporary Depot in Thembisa is at 70 per cent complete.
The depot interim operational facilities will include offices, storage, maintenance and staff amenities.
The non-conclusion of the Harambee BRT stations and the location of the depot were some of the issues raised by attendees during the meeting.
To date, the Harambee BRT buses have been used by more than 10 000 people.
ALSO READ: Extension of Harambee BRT Services from Tembisa to Boksburg
Metro insists the BRT Harambee bus system is operational
